UAE accuses Iran of attacks on two ADNOC vessels in Strait of Hormuz

The United Arab Emirates has condemned Iran for attacking two ships linked to the UAE’s national oil company in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) confirmed that “two of its vessels were attacked while transiting” the waterway on Thursday evening, adding that the situation was “brought under control”, Emirati media reported.

“The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned and denounced the hostile Iranian attack that targeted two vessels affiliated with ADNOC as they transited the Strait of Hormuz,” the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement in the early hours of Friday.

No injuries were reported from the attack, the ministry added.

Iran did not immediately comment on the attack or the UAE’s claims.

The attack comes just days after the UAE reported a similar attack on an ADNOC tanker on Saturday.

Iran is continuing to uphold an effective blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, and wants to charge users for passage. The United States fiercely opposes this plan and has instituted its own blockade on Iranian shipping.

Iran is currently in talks with Oman over arrangements for the strait’s future management.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has previously threatened action against any vessels transiting the strait if they are linked to Tehran’s adversaries, or if they fail to comply with Iranian directives.

The Emirati Foreign Ministry said attempts by Iran to use the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of economic coercion amount to “piracy”, and constitute a “direct threat to the stability of the region, its peoples, and the global energy supply”.

After the attack on the ADNOC ship on Saturday, the UAE blamed the IRGC for the strike.

That attack, which also caused no injuries, drew condemnation from regional and Arab governments.

ADNOC reports that a total of 15 of its vessels have been attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran in February.

-Al Jazeera