More than 30 Iranian military personnel were killed overnight Sunday in a serious naval accident in the Gulf of Oman, the Al Jazeera network reported.
According to the report, the Iranian Jamaran frigate accidentally fired on the Konarak support ship with an anti-ship cruise missile during naval exercises.
The injured soldiers were evacuated to a hospital in southern Iran.
Official Iranian media has yet to comment on the reports, but media outlets close to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard confirmed the deaths of dozens of Iranian navy members in the incident.
In recent years, there have been several close encounters in the Persian Gulf involving Iran and US vessels.
Last month, the US military said that 11 Revolutionary Guard naval vessels came close to US Navy and coast guard ships in the Gulf, calling the moves “dangerous and provocative”.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard acknowledged that the incident had taken place, but also claimed that it was American forces who sparked the incident.
