Official says oil tanker hit by bomb-carrying drone off Oman

An oil tanker related to an Israeli billionaire has been struck by a bomb-carrying drone off the coast of Oman amid heightened tensions with Iran, an official advised The Related Press on Wednesday.

The assault occurred Tuesday evening off the coast of Oman, the Mideast-based protection official mentioned. The official spoke on situation of anonymity as they didn’t have authorization to debate the assault publicly.

The UK Maritime Commerce Operations, a British army group within the area monitoring transport, advised the AP: “We’re conscious of an incident and it’s being investigated presently.”

The official recognized the vessel attacked because the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Pacific Zircon. That tanker is operated by Singapore-based Jap Pacific Transport, which is an organization finally owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer.

A cellphone quantity for Jap Pacific rang unanswered Wednesday.

Whereas nobody instantly claimed accountability for the assault, suspicion instantly fell on Iran. Tehran and Israel have been engaged in a yearslong shadow warfare within the wider Center East, with some drone assaults concentrating on Israeli-associated vessels touring across the area.

The U.S. additionally blamed Iran for a sequence of assaults occurring off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in 2019. Tehran then had begun escalating its nuclear program following the U.S.′ unilateral withdraw from its atomic cope with world powers.

Iranian state media didn’t instantly acknowledge the assault on the Pacific Zircon.