DUBAI: An unknown projectile struck a ship off the coast of Qatar early Sunday morning, a UK maritime agency reported, after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards threatened to target US vessels in the region.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre said a bulk carrier had reported being hit 23 nautical miles northeast of Doha by an “unknown projectile”.
“There was a small fire that has been extinguished, there are no casualties. There is no reported environmental impact,” the agency said.
Iran’s Fars news agency reported, citing an unidentified source, that “the bulk carrier that was struck near the coast of Qatar was sailing under the US flag and belonged to the US”.
The incident comes after a US fighter jet on Friday disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers in the Gulf of Oman to prevent them from continuing to Iran.
Iran’s Guards then threatened on Saturday to target US sites in the Middle East and “enemy ships” if its own tankers came under fire.