In a mysterious development, Iran's largest warship caught fire in the Gulf of Oman and later sank on Wednesday. The Iranian news agency, Fars said that the fire started at around 2.25 pm and firefighters tried to douse it. According to state media reports, 400 soldiers on board the ship fled after the fire broke out, of which about 20 were injured.
'Fars' reported that efforts to save the warship 'Kharg' failed. The ship is named after Kharg Island, which is Iran's main oil terminal. The ship sank near the port of Zask in the Gulf of Oman, about 1,270 km southeast of Tehran. Images circulating on social media in Iran showed marines wearing life jackets leaving the ship with fire behind them. Satellite images showed Kharg sinking into the water to the west of Jask port. Satellites from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration spotted a fire at a spot in Jask.
Kharg: An important ship in the Iranian Navy
Kharg was one of the few ships of the Iranian Navy to provide fuel to other ships at sea. It could also carry heavy cargo and had launch pads for several helicopters. The ship was built in Britain and was inducted into the Navy in 1984 after long negotiations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.
This is the latest in a series of mysterious blasts that began in 2019 targeting commercial ships in the Gulf of Oman. The US Navy has been accusing Iran of targeting commercial ships. Iran has been denying these allegations. However, footage released by the US Navy showed members of the Revolutionary Guard clearing unexploded landmines from a ship. These incidents came after heightened tensions between the US and Iran, following the withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Tehran.
It is to be noted that the sinking of the Kharg ship is the latest naval accident for Iran. During an Iranian military exercise in 2020, a missile accidentally hit a naval ship near the port of Jask, killing 19 sailors and injuring 15 others. In 2018, an Iranian Navy warship sank in the Caspian Sea. In April also an Iranian ship was targeted, which has been suspected by Israel.
