India summons Iran envoy after Indian killed in Hormuz attack

India's Foreign Ministry summoned Iranian Deputy Chief of Mission Mohamed Javad Hosseini on Tuesday morning to lodge a strong protest over the death of an Indian national during a missile attack on two commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, according to an official statement from New Delhi. The ministry confirmed that 30 Indian seafarers were aboard the two UAE-flagged tankers when they were struck in Omani territorial waters, leaving one Indian crew member dead and six others injured alongside two Ukrainian nationals.

Condemnation of violence

"We strongly condemn these attacks and acts of violence targeting seafarers and disrupting free and safe navigation through international waterways like the Strait of Hormuz," the Foreign Ministry said. Expressing deep concern over renewed clashes in the Middle East, the statement called for "immediate cessation of violence and a return to dialogue and diplomacy in the interests of peace, security and stability in the region." It added: "In particular, the targeting of commercial shipping and civilian infrastructure in the region must cease in order that free and unimpeded navigation and commerce through international waterways in the region, in keeping with international law, can be restored at the earliest."

Attack details

The UAE Defense Ministry identified the targeted vessels as the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah, confirming the fatal strike occurred aboard the Mombasa while eight crew members sustained injuries, four of them seriously. The attack took place in the southern shipping lane of the strait as the United States launched a third consecutive day of strikes against Iran, operations Washington said were designed to weaken Tehran's military capabilities in the contested waterway.

Iran's position

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said US forces had encouraged the two supertankers to transit an unauthorized route through the strait before the vessels were hit and disabled, though it stopped short of explicitly claiming responsibility for the missile strikes. The incident came as the United States conducted a third consecutive day of military operations against Iranian targets, strikes that Washington said were designed to degrade Tehran's capabilities in the strategic waterway that has seen renewed conflict between the two powers since late February.