First Indian casualty in US-Iran conflict! Mariner killed after drone boat hits oil tanker in Gulf of Oman; key details inside

The first casualty was reported of an Indian from the Gulf of Oman as a ship was hit and exploded. Scroll down to read the detailed story.

US-Iran Conflict: The recent tensions in Iran have led to the death of an Indian mariner, as reported. This was done after a bomb-carrying drone boat hit an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, as reported by Oman. This now becomes the first Indian casualty since the tensions escalated in the US-Iran conflict. Oman gave a confirmation that the Marshall Islands indicated tanker MKD VYOM was stuck at Muscat’s coast on Monday, i.e., March 2. The crew member who passed away was identified to be an Indian national, as per Oman and the reports by the Associated Press. The attack comes after the US launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, which were later followed by the retaliatory strikes and have still not stopped.

Company’s statement

V.Ships Asia, stated that the ship on Sunday was hit by a projectile (suspiciously) which led to further explosion and fire. The company’s statement read, “The vessel suffered an explosion and subsequent fire after being struck by a suspected projectile while off the coast of Muscat, Oman on 1 March… It is with great sadness that we confirm one crew member, who was in the engine room at the time of the incident, has died.”

The event happened near the coast of the Strait of Hormuz, which is an important maritime checkpoint, as it’s through this part only that a quarter of the world’s seaway oil passes. The responsibility of the strike has not been claimed by any group as of now.

Iran’s warning over Strait of Hormuz

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Abbas Araghchi, in his response to the Iranian strikes across the Gulf countries, stated that there were some actions which were not done in direct orders by the government and were carried out by the armed forces, which were functioning on an independent basis under broad instructions. In addition, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had given a warning that the Strait of Hormuz region was ‘unsafe’ because of the continuous attacks by Israel and the US.

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What’s happening?

The United States launched an attack on Iran on Saturday for finalising a nuclear deal. The planned strikes were carried out by the Trump-led US and the Netanyahu-led Israel. In return, Iran launched retaliatory strikes, and since then, the tensions have escalated further.

The conflict has led to the deaths of senior officials in both countries. The most shocking one was that of the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose death was confirmed by Trump himself.