Friendly fire maritime incident in Iran
The "Konarak" vessel incident was a friendly fire incident which occurred in the Gulf of Oman on 10 May 2020, during a naval exercise. An anti-ship missile fired from the hit the support vessel , killing 19 sailors on board the "Konarak", and wounding another 15. The "Konarak" was heavily damaged and its wreckage towed to Chabahar Port. The incident occurred amongst increasing regional tensions, during the 2019–2021 Persian Gulf crisis.
Incident.
In May 2020, the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy held naval drills in the Gulf of Oman. The Konarak was struck by a Noor missile, an upgraded YJ-83, which was fired from the in the Gulf of Oman close to the Strait of Hormuz. Official Iranian TV initially reported one fatality in the incident, but this was later revised to 19 killed and 15 injured. The "Konarak" was involved as a tender, setting out targets for target practice for missiles from "Jamaran". The "Konarak" reportedly failed to distance itself sufficiently from the target prior to the launch and was struck by a missile. The missile may have automatically locked onto "Konarak" as the largest target or else been set as the target by human error.
After the incident, "Konarak" was recovered to port to undergo a "technical inspection". Footage published by Iranian state broadcaster IRIB showed the ship down heavily by the bow with its superstructure devastated and smoke visible from fires.
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