Iranian Gunboats Fire on Indian Ships in Strait of Hormuz, India Summons Tehran Envoy

On April 18, Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gunboats fired on two Indian-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz and forced them to turn around. This led India to call in Tehran’s ambassador, which was one of the most tense diplomatic exchanges between the two countries since the crisis began.

According to the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency, the VLCC Sanmar Herald, which was carrying about two million barrels of Iraqi crude, and the Jag Arnav, another Indian-flagged ship, were passing through the strait when two IRGC gunboats opened fire without warning. The Iranian government had already given the Sanmar Herald permission to pass. A crew member’s distress call was picked up by an audio intercept: “You gave me permission to go… You are firing now!” “Let me go back!”

In the call, the crew talked about the IRGC’s naval name, Sepah Navy. Both ships turned around and headed west. Vessel tracker data showed that the incident happened about 20 to 25 nautical miles northeast of Oman. There were no reports of injuries among the Indian crew.

A projectile hit a container ship that was passing through the same corridor at the same time, damaging several containers. UKMTO said that there were no fires, no damage to the environment, and no deaths or injuries on that ship.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met with Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Fathali and told him that New Delhi was “deeply concerned” about the shooting. Misri said that India cared a lot about the safety of merchant ships and their crews. He also remembered that Iran had helped several ships going to India pass through safely in the past. He told Tehran to “resume the process of making it easier for ships going to India to cross the Strait as soon as possible.” Ambassador Fathali promised to pass those thoughts on to the Iranian government.

Hours after Iran briefly reopened the Strait of Hormuz on April 17, following a temporary ceasefire agreed to on April 8, the attack happened. Iran closed the waterway again after the US Navy started blocking Iranian ports on April 13. Tehran called this a breach of the ceasefire terms. The Supreme National Security Council of Iran said that its armed forces had taken back “intense management and control” of the strait and would keep it that way as long as the US blockade lasted. The temporary ceasefire was set to end on April 23.

Since Iran closed the strait at the end of March, there have been a number of attacks on merchant ships, including the Sanmar Herald incident. Since the crisis started in late February, there have been at least 30 confirmed or claimed attacks on commercial ships. These include attacks that killed two Indian crew members on the Palau-flagged Skylight and sank the UAE tugboat Mussafah 2, killing four people.

The Indian Navy’s Operation Sankalp evacuated five LPG carriers flying the Indian flag between March 14 and March 24. They were escorted through the Gulf of Oman after Iran limited transit to ships from countries it saw as hostile. Since the crisis started, oil exports from Gulf producers have dropped by about 60%, from about 25 million barrels per day to about 10 million.