Iranian fishermen wounded in drone strike near Hormuz Strait

Three Iranian fishermen were wounded Wednesday morning when their fishing boat was struck in a maritime incident near the city of Sirik in Hormozgan Province in southern Iran, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, citing local sources.

Local sources claimed the strike was carried out by an American unmanned aircraft, though the circumstances of the incident and the identity of those responsible have not been officially confirmed. The three wounded were evacuated for medical treatment, and initial reports indicated no fatalities.

The incident comes against the backdrop of escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical shipping routes. Before the war, roughly a fifth of global trade in oil and liquefied natural gas passed through the strait.

Three Iranian fishermen wounded in drone strike in Persian Gulf (Photo: Arab networks)

Separately, Reuters reported that Iran has begun deploying civilian spotters in small boats in the Gulf region to assist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in locating vessels and tracking the movement of military and commercial shipping.

According to the report, a US military official said the IRGC is using unarmed spotters after Iranian radar capabilities were damaged in American strikes. The spotters are meant to identify potential targets and relay information to Iranian forces.

Reuters further reported that recent days have seen an increase in strikes against vessels in the region, and that Iran is expanding its activity into the Gulf of Oman and other areas near the coasts of Gulf states.