Strait of Hormuz: UAE blames Iran for ADNOC attack

The United Arab Emirates on Saturday blamed Iran for attacking a vessel linked to state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in the Strait of Hormuz, after ADNOC said one of its vessels was attacked while transiting the waterway on Friday evening.

The UAE foreign ministry condemned what it called a “hostile Iranian attack that targeted a vessel affiliated with ADNOC”. It said targeting commercial shipping and using the Strait of Hormuz as economic coercion or blackmail amounted to “acts of piracy” by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.

ADNOC had earlier confirmed that one of its vessels was attacked while passing through the strait on the evening of Friday, August 14, according to the official WAM news agency. No injuries were reported.

UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said after the attack that the Gulf state would defend its “rights to freedom of navigation” in the strait. He said repeated targeting of ADNOC tankers would not deter the UAE from a policy based on deterrence, diplomacy and international law, and said the UAE would work to strengthen a unified Gulf position.

The announcement came a day after the UAE accused Iran of attacking two vessels linked to ADNOC as they passed through the strait. The UAE foreign ministry condemned that earlier attack and said no injuries had been reported.

Last week, ADNOC reported that three of its tankers had been attacked in the waterway, while the Emirati foreign ministry separately announced an attack on another ADNOC tanker a day later.

Iran has imposed an effective blockade of the strait, a vital shipping route for global energy supplies, since the Middle East war began in February. Tehran has said it wants to charge users for passage, which Washington opposes.

Continued attacks in the strait led to the collapse of an April ceasefire between the United States and Iran. A June deal said Iran and Oman would discuss future arrangements for the strait with other Gulf countries and in line with applicable international law.

Last week, Iranian official Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr set out conditions for fully reopening the strait, including an end to what he described as war against Iran and its regional allies, the lifting of sanctions and compensation for wartime damage.