The United Arab Emirates has accused Iran of attacking two vessels affiliated with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, or ADNOC, while they were transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday evening. ADNOC said the situation was brought under control, and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said no injuries were reported.
The accusation comes days after the UAE reported a similar attack on an ADNOC tanker. The latest incident adds to pressure around the strategic waterway, where Iran is seeking payment from users for passage and the United States opposes the plan.
What the UAE and ADNOC said
ADNOC confirmed that two of its vessels were attacked while transiting the strait. The UAE Foreign Ministry described the incident as a hostile Iranian attack and said the vessels were affiliated with ADNOC.
The ministry called Iran’s use of the Strait of Hormuz as economic leverage “piracy” and said it posed a direct threat to regional stability, local populations and global energy supplies.
Related coverage: Mohsen Rezaei takes Iran’s top security post amid Hormuz talks.
Iran’s response and the recent chronology
Iran had not immediately commented on the attack or the UAE’s accusation. The incident followed a similar attack on an ADNOC tanker reported by the UAE on Saturday; that earlier attack also caused no injuries, and the UAE blamed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC.
ADNOC said 15 of its vessels had been attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran in February. The IRGC has previously threatened action against vessels linked to Tehran’s adversaries or vessels that do not comply with Iranian directives.
Why the Strait of Hormuz matters in the dispute
Iran is continuing to uphold what the source material describes as an effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and wants to charge users for passage. The United States strongly opposes that plan and has imposed its own blockade on Iranian shipping.
More context: Iran links Strait of Hormuz reopening to US concessions.
Iran is also in talks with Oman about arrangements for the strait’s future management. The UAE’s latest statement frames the attacks and the wider restrictions as a threat to the security of energy supplies, while the reported absence of injuries and ADNOC’s statement that the situation was controlled describe the immediate outcome of the incident.
Also read: Why the Strait of Hormuz talks are becoming harder to resolve.
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