India summons Iran envoy over incident of firing at ships in Strait of Hormuz

Two Indian-flagged vessels carrying crude oil reversed course in the Strait of Hormuz after coming under Iranian military gunfire on Saturday, prompting New Delhi to summon the Iranian envoy and lodge a strong protest. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri conveyed to Iranian ambassador Mohammad Fathali India's ''deep concern'' at the ''shooting incident'' involving the two ships in the strategic waterway, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. Misri noted the ''importance that India attached to the safety of merchant shipping and mariners and recalled that Iran had earlier facilitated the safe passage of several ships bound for India,'' it said. After the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran six weeks ago, Tehran largely halted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz that carries one-fifth of global oil supplies. The Iranian action has triggered a significant rise in oil prices. Following Tehran's announcement Friday that it has opened the waterway for commercial traffic, several commercial vessels tried to cross it. However, Tehran on Saturday said that it has again closed the waterway, alleging that the US violated a certain understanding reached between the two sides. In his meeting with the Iranian envoy, the foreign secretary told him to convey India's views on the incident to the authorities in Iran. ''Reiterating his concern at this serious incident of firing on merchant ships, the foreign secretary urged the ambassador to convey India's views to the authorities in Iran and resume at the earliest the process of facilitating India-bound ships across the Strait,'' the MEA said in a statement. It said the Ambassador Fathali ''undertook to convey these views to the Iranian authorities.'' Earlier, government sources said the Iranian ambassador was summoned to the MEA, and a strong protest was lodged with him over the firing incident. Vessel tracker TankerTrackers.com earlier reported that two Indian vessels had to reverse course in the Strait of Hormuz following the incident of gunfire from Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Earlier this week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar underlined India's strong commitment to ''safe and unimpeded'' transit passage of maritime shipping, even as he emphasised that attacks on merchant shipping are ''completely unacceptable''. Jaishankar made the remarks while participating in an online meeting convened by Japan to discuss supply chain disruptions in the energy markets.