UAE says Iran attacked ADNOC vessel in Hormuz, urges waterway's reopening

The United Arab Emirates said on Saturday Iran had attacked an Abu Dhabi National Oil Company vessel while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported.

ADNOC said no injuries were reported and that the situation was under control, according to WAM.

The UAE foreign ministry called on Tehran to halt what it described as unprovoked attacks, end hostilities and fully reopen the waterway.

There was no immediate comment from Iran.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have previously threatened action against vessels transiting the strait if they are linked to Tehran's adversaries or fail to comply with Iranian directives.

The attack was the third such incident involving ADNOC vessels in less than a week, and the UAE had also accused Iran of being behind the earlier incidents.

Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said Abu Dhabi would defend its sovereignty and interests after repeated attacks on ADNOC vessels.

"We will safeguard our rights to freedom of navigation ... while continuing the path of dialogue and prioritising diplomatic options," Gargash said in a post on X.

Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said earlier it had received a report of a bulk carrier being struck by an unknown projectile in the strait on Friday. It was not immediately clear whether the incident involved the same ADNOC vessel.

About a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passed through the narrow waterway between Oman and Iran before the conflict. Since the US-Israeli war with Iran broke out on 28 February, shipping has been repeatedly disrupted, raising freight rates and creating security concerns.

ADNOC, Abu Dhabi's state oil company, is one of the world's largest energy producers and exports crude oil, natural gas and refined products worldwide.