An Iranian navy “friendly fire” incident in which a ship was sunk has killed dozens of sailors, unofficial reports say.
Local journalists said the frigate Jamaran was testing a new anti-ship missile which locked onto and hit Konarak, a logistical ship.
Semi-official Iranian news agency Fars said one sailor was killed and several others injured in a naval exercise.
It described the incident on Sunday near the Strait of Hormuz as a “crash”.
According to the unofficial reports, Jamaran – operated by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) – fired the missile prematurely before Konarak had time to sail away from a floating target it had towed to a designated position.
Videos posted on social media show injured sailors being transferred to ambulances.
In January, the IRGC mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane near Tehran, killing all 176 people on board, at a time of heightened tension with the US.
