UAE vessel reportedly attacked by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz

A vessel affiliated with the United Arab Emirates state-oil company ADNOC was reportedly attacked while transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.

In a statement, Abu Dhabi blamed Iran for the hit, which occurred on Friday night local time.

The UAE’s Foreign Ministry described the attack as a “flagrant violation” of international law. The crew aboard the vessel were not harmed in the attack, they added.

It accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of committing acts of “piracy” by using the strait as a “tool of economic coercion and blackmail” and said targeting commercial shipping is a “direct threat” to the region.

It was the third attack on a vessel belonging to ADNOC in 48 hours. The state-oil giant said earlier that two of its vessels were attacked while transiting Hormuz on Thursday.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a Royal Navy-affiliated body that monitors maritime security and shipping in the region, said an “unknown projectile” hit the hull of a bulk carrier in the waterway. Iran has claimed official responsibility for the attack, but has warned ships of attempting to cross the maritime chokepoint.

The Emirati diplomatic adviser to the president, Anwar Gargash, said “repeated” targeting of the state oil company’s tankers “will not deter” the UAE.

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“We will safeguard our rights to freedom of navigation and the use of the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with international law, and we will defend our sovereignty and interests, while continuing the path of dialogue and prioritizing diplomatic options,” Gargash said on X.

Commercial ships attempting to navigate in and around the Persian Gulf face the dual threats of violence in the Strait of Hormuz and Houthi attacks in the Bab al-Mandeb, meaning that there is “currently no genuinely ‘safe’ side of the Arabian Peninsula,” said maritime intelligence group Marisks in their latest intelligence update.

In a report on Friday, the UKMTO said there have been 56 reports of damage to vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and nearby waters since the US-Iran war began on February 28. Shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has remained at a fraction of pre-war levels, it added.

The United States has at times implemented a blockade in the key waterway against Iranian ports as it looks to maintain some sort of control on the area.

Its importance to the US was highlighted in a speech by president Donald Trump, who claimed he wanted to make the Strait of Hormuz a territory of the United States when the war ends.

“After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” he said.

His remarks were quickly condemned by Iranian figures.

“The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech,” Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X.

“Iran neither fears threats nor cowers before displays of power.”