Explosions rock Iranian tanker near Saudi port city of Jeddah, oil reportedly spilling into Red Sea

 

A tanker belonging to Iran’s government-owned oil corporation has been hit by two missiles and caught fire in the Red Sea, 60 miles from Saudi shores. The incident is being treated as a terrorist attack, local media says.

The tanker Sinopa, operated by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), was sailing through the Red Sea when the explosion occurred. The blast was powerful enough to damage two of its reservoirs, leading to an oil spill in the area.

 © Tasnim News Agency/Handout via REUTERS

 Local media cited unnamed Iranian “technical experts” who believe that the incident could have been caused by a “terrorist attack,” but didn’t provide any evidence to back the claim.

The tanker’s crew wasn’t hurt in the incident, which took place near Jeddah, the largest port in the Red Sea and maritime gateway to Saudi Arabia.

NIOC, which once ranked second after Saudi Aramco in terms of crude oil extraction, told state-run IRNA news agency that the vessel was hit by what appears to be two missiles. That report did not expand on where the attack came from. 

 The news comes less than a month after a swarm of drones and missiles targeted Aramco’s major oilfield in the city of Abqaiq, inflicting heavy damage to the facility and cutting production in half. Yemeni Houthi rebels, who have been fighting Saudi troops since 2015, claimed responsibility for the attack, but Riyadh and its ally Washington pinned the blame on Iran – a claim which it vehemently denies.

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