Iran demands compensation for Hormuz oil spill apparently caused by its own attack

Iran warns of environmental degradation in the Strait of Hormuz after an oil spill reaches its southern Qeshm island, calling for compensation from those responsible, though it appears to have been caused by an Iranian attack.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei says the slick “degraded the waters” of the Gulf and Sea of Oman, claiming “preliminary evidence indicates a foreign bulk carrier as the source.”

But TankerTrackers, a US-hosted website that monitors shipping movements worldwide, says the spill seemed to derive from an Iranian attack on bulk carrier Minoan Pioneer in Omani waters on August 3.

“The spillage then drifted across the strait over to Iran,” it says.

Baqaei writes on X that such spills have in “recent decades imposed trillions of dollars in damage on Iran’s coastal areas,” calling for compensation.

“Every party that benefits from commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz carries both a legal and a moral obligation to remediate the environmental harm inflicted,” he adds.

The spill reached Qeshm island but was “almost completely cleaned up by Wednesday evening,” says Habib Masihi, head of the environmental protection department in Iran’s southern province of Hormozgan.

He says about 32,000 square meters of coastal area have been affected, along with waters covering 90,000 square meters.

Iran has maintained control over the Strait of Hormuz since the outbreak of the Middle East war on February 28, blocking the passage of ships carrying energy exports from US-allied countries in the Gulf.

The spill comes after another slick in recent days near neighboring Oman from a tanker that ran aground.

An AFP investigation previously found the ship had been stranded for weeks near Oman’s Al-Qibliyyah island after it was damaged by explosions.