ALBAWABA- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for a drone attack on the Palau-flagged oil tanker Skylight roughly five nautical miles north of Khasab Port in Oman’s Musandam Governorate, part of a wider wave of retaliatory strikes across the Gulf.
The tanker, traveling from the UAE to an undisclosed destination, sustained fires and structural damage, though no oil spill occurred.
Oman’s Maritime Security Center confirmed that all 20 crew members, 15 Indian nationals and five Iranians, were safely evacuated by the Royal Navy of Oman and local security forces.
Four crew members were injured and are receiving medical treatment in Muscat. Omani authorities condemned the attack as a violation of sovereignty, urging immediate de-escalation and advising vessels to avoid the area.
Assassination of Khamenei and top Iranian commanders in U.S.–Israeli strikes sparks regional crisisThe incident marks Oman’s first direct involvement in the escalating confrontation, following earlier Iranian drone strikes on U.S. facilities in Duqm port, which injured one worker.
The tanker strike is part of Iran’s “Operation True Promise 4,” a series of missile and drone attacks targeting U.S. military bases and allied Gulf states in retaliation for the joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and over 40 senior Iranian officials in Tehran.
The strike on Skylight highlights Tehran’s strategy of pressuring Gulf states hosting U.S. forces and threatening maritime routes amid stalled nuclear negotiations and U.S. warnings of regime change.
