Iran missile strikes own ship and kills 19 sailors

Incident took place during training exercise

Iran’s armed forces killed 19 Iranian sailors and injured 15 during a live-fire exercise in the Gulf of Oman in the second major military disaster for the country in four months.

The sailors were aboard the Konarak, a naval support ship, during an army drill off the Iranian ports of Jask and Chabahar on Sunday evening when they were hit by a Noor anti-ship missile fired by a destroyer, according to Iranian news reports.

Naval rescue and relief teams were dispatched to the scene to evacuate the wounded and collect the dead, according to a statement by the armed forces. Of the 15 injured, 13 remained hospitalised with two in critical condition, said a medical official cited by the Mehr News Agency.

State television showed images of the Konarak’s smouldering, half-sunken remains as it was towed into port. Media reports have suggested that the incident occurred after Iran tested a new ship-to-ship projectile; however, the Noor missile in question has been used by Iran since at least the 1990s.

The missile, a version of the Chinese-made C-802 that Iran acquired in the 1990s, is a pillar of Iran’s anti-ship missile arsenal, military analysts say.

Military exercises around the world often lead to injuries and fatalities, with reports suggesting that four times as many United States armed forces personnel die in training than in combat.

However, Iran’s latest friendly-fire incident follows the downing of a Ukraine International Airlines plane on 8 January while it was ascending from the capital, Tehran, by Iranian Revolutionary Guards air-defence personnel who mistook it for an American missile. All 176 mostly Iranian passengers and Ukrainian crew aboard the Boeing 737-800 were killed.

“This is the second high-profile incident in less than half a year where mistakes in missile targeting have resulted in significant loss of life,” said Reed Foster, an analyst at Jane’s, the defence and aeronautics industry publisher.

“This damages the credibility of the military writ large, and the narrative of the government of the military’s increasingly sophisticated weapons and technology despite international sanctions.”

Tensions between the US and Iran have mounted since Washington abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal and pursued punishing sanctions as part of a hardline policy of “maximum pressure” against Tehran.

Iran has responded by upping its nuclear programme, continuing to refine its missile capabilities, launching alleged attacks on Arabian Peninsula oil infrastructure, and increasing its harassment of US ships in the cramped waterways of the Gulf.

Donald Trump’s administration is now pushing to extend a United Nations ban, which is due to expire in October, on the sale of weapons to and from Iran.

The Konarak is a Hendijan-class logistical ship purchased from the Netherlands more than 40 years ago, and in recent years equipped with four Nour missile launchers.

In early 2018, the Iranian frigate Damavand was badly damaged in an accident in the Caspian Sea. The loss of the Konarak slightly diminishes Iran’s capabilities at a key time in its confrontation with Washington.

“Although the loss of the Konarak will not have a significant impact on the wider capabilities of the Iranian navy, a replacement will likely take years to come into service,” Mr Foster wrote in a note to journalists and analysts.

The incident and others preceding it also underscore chronic, decades-old problems of coordination within the Iranian armed forces.

Some Iran military analysts have also described corruption within the armed forces, as senior officers partake in business ventures and the morale of conscripts falls because of harsh conditions and poor pay.

On social media, many expressed sympathy for the families of those killed, but also noted the irony of more Iranians being killed by their own forces than by American, Israeli or Saudi rivals.

“Hey world, don’t strike us,” one user on Twitter wrote. “We can do it efficiently and cheaply.”