US military calls Iranian navy friendly fire incident ‘tragic’ in statement

May 14, 2020

The US military offered its condolences to Iran after Iranian sailors died in a friendly fire incident Sunday.

A spokesman for US Central Command, also known as CENTCOM, said the incident during an Iranian naval training exercise Sunday was “tragic.”

“U.S. Central Command offers our sincere condolences to the Iranian people for the tragic loss of life when an Iranian anti-ship cruise missile struck the Iranian auxiliary vessel Konarak in the Gulf of Oman on May 10, 2020,” Capt. Bill Urban said in a statement sent to Al-Monitor today.

The accident occurred when an Iranian naval ship accidentally fired a missile at another ship during a training in the Gulf of Oman — the body of water between Iran and the Arabian peninsula; 19 service members died and 15 were injured.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei later called for an investigation into the deaths, asking military commanders to “shed light” on what transpired.