UAE Accuses Iran Of Attacking Two ADNOC Vessels In Strait Of Hormuz

The United Arab Emirates has condemned Iran for attacking two vessels affiliated with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday evening.

“The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned and denounced the hostile Iranian attack that targeted two vessels affiliated with ADNOC as they transited the Strait of Hormuz,” the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement in the early hours of Friday.

No injuries were reported in the attack, the ministry added.

Iran did not immediately comment on the attack or the UAE’s accusations.

The incident comes days after the UAE reported a similar attack on an ADNOC tanker on Saturday. No injuries were reported in that incident either.

Iran has continued to enforce what it describes as control over passage through the Strait of Hormuz and has sought to impose charges on vessels using the waterway. The United States has strongly opposed the move and has imposed its own restrictions on Iranian shipping.

Iran is currently in talks with Oman over arrangements for the future management of the strait.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has previously threatened action against vessels transiting the strait if they are linked to Tehran’s adversaries or fail to comply with Iranian directives.

The Emirati Foreign Ministry said attempts by Iran to use the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of economic coercion amounted to “piracy” and constituted a “direct threat to the stability of the region, its peoples, and global energy supplies.”

Following Saturday’s attack on an ADNOC vessel, the UAE blamed the IRGC for the strike. That incident drew condemnation from regional and Arab governments.

ADNOC said a total of 15 of its vessels had been attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran in February.

The United States and Iran remain at odds over the Strait of Hormuz as mediators seek to bring the two sides back to negotiations.

Iran asserts control over the strategic waterway, challenging U.S. claims of dominance in the strait.