At least 19 Iranian sailors were killed and 15 wounded when an Iranian missile struck a support vessel during a training exercise in the Gulf of Oman, according to state media.
The Konarak, a Dutch-made vessel, was too close to a target during the training exercise on Sunday. The ship had been placing targets for other vessels when the missile accidentally hit the ship, Iranian media said.
The incident happened near the port of Jask, about 800 miles southeast of Tehran, Iranian state media said. Iran towed the vessel to a nearby naval base after the strike.
The Iranian army released a photograph showing burn marks and some damage to the ship, but no detailed photographs of the point of impact.
It’s the second serious incident involving a misfired missile by Iran this year. Iran admitted its Revolutionary Guard Corps accidentally shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 people on board, after it carried out missile strikes on two bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq. The strikes were in response to the U.S. killing top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Iraq in January.
