Hormuz oil slick reaches Qeshm, Iran media say

An oil slick in the Strait of Hormuz has reached Iran's Qeshm Island, Iranian media reported, affecting beaches and an environmentally sensitive mangrove forest.

State news agency IRNA said the slick affected areas on Qeshm's southern coast and parts of nearby Hengam Island.

TankerTrackers, a US-hosted shipping-monitoring website, said the spill seemed to come from what it described as an Iranian attack on the bulk carrier Minoan Pioneer in Omani waters on August 3. It said the spill then drifted across the strait to Iran.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said pollution had been seen at three locations and on the sea surface. He said its source appeared to be a “foreign bulk carrier”, but did not name one.

Baqaei said any party benefiting from commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz had a legal and moral duty to help compensate for and repair environmental damage to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.