UAE accuses Iran of missile attack on ADNOC vessel in Hormuz

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UAE accuses Iran of missile attack on ADNOC vessel in Hormuz

August 8, 2026

DUBAI,— Emirati officials on Saturday accused Iran of striking a tanker connected to the country’s state oil company as it moved through the Strait of Hormuz, calling the incident piracy.

The state-run WAM agency was first to report the claim, citing ADNOC, which said a missile hit one of its ships early Saturday morning and that crews had the situation under control.

Later, the UAE’s Foreign Ministry issued its own statement, describing the strike as a hostile act carried out by Iran.

Officials gave no further information about the ship involved, what it was carrying, or how badly it may have been damaged. Nobody was reported hurt.

The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow channel running between Oman and Iran, once carried close to one-fifth of the planet’s seaborne oil and gas before the current fighting broke out.

Traffic through the passage has been unstable since war erupted between the United States, Israel and Iran on February 28, sending shipping costs climbing and rattling nerves across the industry.

Emirati officials argued the strike violated a Security Council resolution meant to guarantee free passage for ships.

They pointed to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as the culprit, saying the force has been using the strait to squeeze commercial shipping economically, behavior they equated with piracy.

The ministry demanded an immediate halt to the strikes and insisted Iran lift restrictions on the waterway entirely.

Guard commanders have signaled before that ships crossing the strait could be targeted if they have ties to Iran’s opponents or ignore orders from Tehran.

ADNOC said Friday that repeated, unprovoked strikes on its workers and equipment had caused real strain, even as the firm kept filling orders under what it called brutal operating conditions.

Fifteen of its ships have taken missile or drone fire while passing through the strait since the war began, the company said, three of them just this week.

One worker died and twenty more were injured. ADNOC did not say who it believes carried out the strikes.

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, ADNOC ranks among the world’s top energy suppliers, shipping crude, gas and refined fuel internationally.

Iran has largely avoided hitting UAE targets since restarting Gulf strikes in late June, a gap some analysts attribute to Abu Dhabi’s payment of billions of dollars to Tehran.

(With files from Reuters)