A ship was hit by an unidentified projectile off the coast of Qatar on Sunday, May 10 at dawn, according to a maritime agency. This attack follows threats from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who had announced their intention to target “enemy” ships in the region.
According to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a merchant vessel reported being hit 23 nautical miles northeast of Doha by an “unknown projectile.” “A small fire broke out but was extinguished, no casualties. No impact on the environment was reported,” the agency said.
The Iranian news agency Fars, citing an informed source, stated that “the tanker struck near the coast of Qatar was flying the American flag and owned by the United States,” without explicitly stating that Iran targeted it.
“Any attack on Iranian tankers and commercial ships will result in a heavy response against one of the American centers in the region as well as against enemy ships,” said the commander of the Revolutionary Guards Navy on Saturday, according to the public television station Irib and the Isna agency.
These threats come after attacks carried out on Friday by the US military against two Iranian tankers in the Gulf of Oman, as Washington has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports since April 13. In the strategic Strait of Hormuz, around 1,500 ships and about 20,000 crew members remain “trapped,” according to the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN agency.
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