India Protests To Iran After Ships Come Under Fire In Strait Of Hormuz

HYDERABAD, April 19 (Bernama) -- India has protested to Iran after two Indian-flagged ships came under fire in the Strait of Hormuz amid US-Iran military tensions.

Iranian Ambassador to India Mohammad Fathali was summoned by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs for a meeting in New Delhi on Saturday evening.

During the meeting, the foreign secretary conveyed India's "deep concern at the shooting incident" involving two Indian-flagged ships in the Strait on Saturday, the ministry said in a statement.

The Indian government urged the ambassador to convey its views to the authorities in Iran and to resume at the earliest the process of facilitating India-bound ships across the Strait, it said.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGC) has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States ends its naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced on Friday that the vital sea passage was open for all commercial vessels for the remaining period of the two-week ceasefire agreed between the US and Iran on April 7.

This followed after the Israeli regime agreed to halt its aggression against Lebanon for a period of 10 days.

The US and Iran are looking at the possibility of a new round of talks in Pakistan to work out a stable regional peace agreement.

However, Iran is unhappy over what it considers as ceasefire violations by the US.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iranian parliament speaker and top negotiator in the recent Islamabad talks with US President Donald Trump's team, has said that passage through the strait will be conducted based on the "designated route" and with "Iranian authorisation".

“Whether the Strait is open or closed, and the regulations governing it, will be determined on the ground, not on social media,” he said, referring to Trump’s claims about its opening.

India, the world's third largest energy consumer, sources a significant amount of its oil and gas through the strait, which lies on Iran's southern border and accounts for about one-fifth of global energy transportation.

In Saturday's widely reported incident, the Indian-flagged vessels Jag Arnav and Sanmar Herald turned back after coming under fire.

"We warn that no vessel of any kind should move from its anchorage in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and the offending vessel will be targeted," the IRGC said.

-- BERNAMA