An Iranian warship was accidentally hit by a missile during exercises in the Gulf of Oman, killing 19 sailors, amid tensions with the US in the waterway. The friendly fire incident involving the Konarak vessel occurred on Sunday afternoon near Bandar-e Jask, off the southern coast of the Islamic republic. One report said the vessel had sunk after being hit by a missile fired by another Iranian warship.
Iran’s death toll from coronavirus reached 145 on Saturday after another 21 people were confirmed to have died during the last day. Announcing the latest deaths from the virus, a health ministry official said in a televised briefing that the tally of confirmed infections had increased by more than 1,000 during the last 24 hours, totaling 5,823 by Saturday.
The Pakistani government has decided to suspend all flights to and from Iran after the confirmation of Coronavirus cases in the country, officials from Aviation Division have confirmed. The suspension shall remain enacted until further notice. Following the outbreak of the deadly virus in Iran, the government also suspended bus and train service between Pakistan and Iran.
Iran, days after the incident has admitted that it unintentionally shot down the Ukrainian plane which crashed with 180 people aboard in Tehran with no survivors. Soon after the crash, US and Canadian officials had accused Iran of shooting down the plane while Iranian authorities denied the allegations.Ukraine had also temporarily banned its flight operations to Iran.
Iran is selling tomatoes to Pakistan at $1.10 per kilogram. The price stands near Rs. 160-170 per kg for Pakistani importers, much higher than the locally produced tomatoes. Due to lack of trade with India the price of tomatoes soared up as shortage increased in the market and the price reached as high as Rs 350 per kg. The increase in price prompted the government to take remedial measures.
As relations worsen between Tehran and Washington over President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from Tehran’s nuclear deal a year ago, Iran’s revolutionary guard has shot down a RQ-4 Global Hawk. The guard claims to have shot down the drone in Iranian airspace, while a US official says it occured over international airspace in the Strait of Hormuz.
One of the owners of the attacked oil tanker in Gulf of Oman have suggested that the crew might have seen bullets as they saw some objects flying over water before they were hit. This contradicts US government’s narrative suggesting an unexploded mine might have done the damage. Earlier, US has blamed Iran for the attacks on the ships.
Two oil tankers were hit by explosions in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday. A fireball erupted on Norwegian-owned MT Front Altair after a suspected torpedo attack caused three explosions, while Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous was hit by another explosion. Mike Pompeo have blamed Iran for the attack based on investigations carried out on unexploded mine found on the vessel.