An Iranian Shahed-136 drone is launched during a military exercise in Iran, December 2021. (Screenshot: Twitter)
Iran had tested a suicide drone against a practice vessel in the Gulf of Oman without warning ships in the area, Reuters reported on June 15, citing a Unite States official based in the Middle East.
The official told the news agency that the drone was launched on June 14 along with another drone or missile from the area of Jask 8-9 miles within Iran’s territorial waters.
“Essentially practicing hitting merchant vessels. That’s the only reason why you would do that in the Gulf of Oman,” the unnamed official said.
The closest merchant vessel was about 30 miles away from the practice vessel, the official said, noting that the test was “still dangerous.”
The U.S. says that Iran attacked or interfered with the navigational rights of 15 internationally flagged merchant vessels in the Gulf over the past two years.
Iranian naval forces seized on April 27 the U.S.-bound Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Advantage Sweet while it transited international waters in the Gulf. Later on May 3, the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi was seized while transiting from the Arabian Gulf toward the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.
The tankers were captured in response to the seizure of a China-bound Iranian oil shipment by the U.S. near southern Africa on April 22, according to a report by Reuters.
In response to the seizures, the U.S. announced on May 12 that it will increase the rotation of ships and aircraft patrolling in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Since then, tensions in the Gulf have been mounting.
