The UAE on Monday strongly condemned an Iranian drone attack on an ADNOC oil tanker in the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, as the US was due to start guiding ships through the waterway.Two drones hit the MV Barakah off the coast of Oman but no one was injured, according to ADNOC, the UAE state oil giant, adding that the ship was not loaded.
"Targeting commercial shipping and using the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of economic coercion or blackmail represents acts of piracy by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps," the United Arab Emirates foreign ministry said.The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency earlier reported that projectiles struck a ship in the same area late on Sunday.
The latest incident came as President Donald Trump said the US would start guiding ships through the vital waterway from Monday.The US and Iran remain deadlocked in peace negotiations since a ceasefire in the Middle East war came into effect on April 8.
Iran has maintained a stranglehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and the United States has put in place a naval blockade in return.US Central Command said it would use guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms and 15,000 service members to guide ships through the Hormuz strait.
As of April 29, more than 900 commercial vessels were located in the Gulf, according to maritime intelligence firm AXSMarine. There had been more than 1,100 at the start of the conflict.Oil prices have rocketed since the closure of the strait, which normally carries one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas, threatening widespread economic damage.
