UAE condemns Iran's attack on tankers as US strikes escalate

The United Arab Emirates said two of its national tankers were struck by Iranian cruise missiles in the southern passage of the Strait of Hormuz, in Omani territorial waters, killing one Indian crew member and wounding eight others. The ships, Mombasa and Al Bahiyah, caught fire, but the UAE Ministry of Defence said the crews brought the flames under control.

The attack landed in one of the world’s most sensitive shipping lanes, where a large share of global oil flows still moves through a narrow chokepoint. For Gulf states, the strike sharpened a conflict that has already pushed commercial traffic, maritime security and insurance risk back to the center of regional planning.

The UAE condemned the assault as a serious breach of international law and said it retained the right to respond and take necessary measures to protect its sovereignty and security. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs extended condolences to the victim’s family and to India, while the government put itself on high alert and said it was fully prepared to confront threats. Reuters said four of the wounded were seriously injured.

The violence came as the United States launched a third night of strikes on Iran, with U.S. Central Command saying the operation was a response to Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump said the United States would reimpose a blockade on Iranian ports and proposed a 20 percent fee to guard the strait, casting Washington as what he called the guardian of the waterway.

The latest attacks followed a string of incidents near the same route. Earlier in July, a Qatari LNG tanker and a Saudi crude tanker were hit near the strait, and on June 25 Iran attacked a Singapore-flagged commercial vessel, prompting the International Maritime Organization to pause a planned evacuation effort for mariners in the region. The pattern recalled the May 2019 sabotage attacks near Fujairah and the June 2019 attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman, episodes that drove maritime security and U.S.-Iran tensions sharply higher.