Tanker on fire off coast of Oman after being hit by projectile

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Iran’s state TV claims the tanker ignored warnings, but no direct responsibility for the attack has been declared.

A tanker travelling off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz has caught on fire after being struck by a projectile, according to the United Kingdom’s military.

The attack early on Tuesday was the latest targeting a vessel moving through the narrow mouth of the Gulf, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas once passed in peacetime. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault.

Tehran has repeatedly declared that only its approved route through the strait is safe and is suspected of attacking other ships that have used another route close to the Omani shore.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the tanker had been hit near Limah, Oman, in the strait. The UKMTO said the projectile hit the port side of the vessel while trying to travelsouth out of the strait towards the Gulf of Oman.

Talks between Iran and the US, meanwhile, appear to be on hold until after the burial of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the beginning of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28.

Authorities flew Khamenei’s body to the Shia seminary city of Qom overnight, where mourners honored him Tuesday.