Saudi Arabia condemns deadly Iranian attack on tanker in Strait of Hormuz

Regional neighbours condemn attack this week that killed two crew members from the Philippines.Saudi Arabia has condemned an Iranian attack on an oil tanker owned by its national shipping company that resulted in the deaths of two citizens of the Philippines.Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said Iran targeted the Sidr tanker, owned by national carrier Bahri, while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz two days earlier.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Six months into the Iran war, a new Gulf security architecture is emerginglist 2 of 3Six months of war between Iran, US leave Arab states facing tough questionslist 3 of 3How a 95 percent drop in Hormuz traffic changed global shippingend of list“The kingdom stressed the necessity of halting escalations, and respecting international maritime safety and the security of global energy supplies,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement.Saudi Arabia’s regional neighbours also condemned the attack, one of several recent incidents in the US-Israeli war with Iran launched on February 28.Kuwait and Qatar’s foreign ministries said the attack violated international law and freedom of maritime navigation.Qatar called the attack a “flagrant violation of the rules of international law and freedom of maritime navigation”. Doha further rejected the use of the Strait of Hormuz as a “bargaining chip”.Bahri, meanwhile, also confirmed the death on social media.“Bahri confirms that its vessel SIDR was involved in a security incident while transiting the Strait of Hormuz” late on Monday, it said.“Bahri remains in continuous contact with the vessel and is coordinating closely with the relevant authorities and maritime industry stakeholders, while continuing to closely monitor developments,” it said.Iran has repeatedly attacked and threatened tankers attempting to sail through the strategic waterway without authorisation, impeding energy exports from neighbouring oil-rich Gulf countries.