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At least two-Indian flagged vessels had to turn back from the Strait of Hormuz after they came under Iranian fire when two boats of the Gulf country’s supreme military branch force, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) allegedly opened fire at the vessels. The vessels identified as Sanmar Herald and Jag Arnav had to turn back after the incident.
A highly-placed source confirmed that both India-flagged vessels had to turn back on Saturday despite being given clearance by the Iranian authorities for passing via the Strait of Hormuz initially.
“Two Indian-flagged vessels Sanmar Herald and Jag Arnav were reportedly fired at by IRGC gunboats while transiting through the Strait of Hormuz and the vessels have turned back. No injuries were reported and the crew is safe,” the source told Read.
Ship tracking website tankertrackers.com shared two Channel 16 audio recordings captured on Sunday which allegedly were part of the conversation between the captain of the Indian vessel Sanmar Herald and the IRGC officers.
“According to two Channel 16 audio recordings captured today, two Indian vessels were forced back west out of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran’s Sepah (IRGC) Navy. Firing was involved. One of the vessels is an Indian-flagged VLCC supertanker carrying two million barrels of Iraqi oil…,” a post shared on the website’s X handle stated.
The website also shared clippings of the vessels’ backward movement as recorded by commodity markets analytics firm Kpler.
In an audio shared in the X post which is possibly a part of the conversation between the captain of the ship Sanmar Herald and the IRGC officials, the captain can be heard saying that while the Sepah Navy gave clearance to Sanmar Herald, it was being fired upon.
“Sepah Navy! Motor Tanker Sanmar Herald! Sanmar Herald! Sepah Navy! You gave me clearance to go! Sepah Navy! Sepah Navy! This is motor tanker Sanmar Herald. You gave me clearance to go. My name (is) second on your list. You gave me clearance to go! Let me turn back!,” the captain is purportedly heard saying in the viral audio.
A ship owner who is privy to the developments expressed concern that the incident could have been a result of decisions being taken by local officers of the IRGC who are currently in-charge of overseeing the movement of tankers via the Strait of Hormuz due to the decentralisation of powers in the Iranian regime where local commanders often taken decisions for the territory they are in charge.
India-flagged Desh Garima was the only India-flagged vessel that transited through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday and is bound for Mumbai, the Ministry of Shipping confirmed.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency says it received a report of a tanker being fired upon by what it said were “two gunboats linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)” 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman.
The captain of the tanker said the two gunboats opened fire without issuing a radio challenge, UKMTO says in its advisory note, adding that the vessel and its crew were reported safe.
“The master of a tanker reports being approached by two IRGC gun boats, no very high frequency (VHF) challenge that then fired upon the tanker and navy in the Strait of Hormuz in a photo released on February 17, 2026,” the UKTMO said.
Speaking to the Read, a senior government official did not confirm or deny that the incident took place and asked to wait for an official statement.
However, in what seemed as a confirmation of the attack on Indian vessels, Anand Prakash, Ministry of External Affairs’ (MEA) joint secretary in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran division summoned the Iranian ambassador Mohammad Fathali in New Delhi. Visuals of Fathali leaving after the meeting were captured by journalists.
“There will be no immediate statements possibly because the issue may impact the image of India-Iran ties but the government has not taken this lightly. The vessels were granted clearance and then attacked. This is embarrassing,” said a senior Indian government official.
The incident comes even as India has restarted purchasing Iranian oil and the third shipment of Iranian oil has reached India.
Citing TankerTrackers, the Iran consulate in Hyderabad said that the Iranian supertanker Dorna which was last seen in Iran just hours before the blockade, has now appeared on the AIS off the southern coast of India and is scheduled to deliver about two million barrels of crude oil to a refinery there.
“This is the third oil shipment that India has received from Iran in at least the past week, bringing the total amount of oil India has purchased from Iran to six million barrels, according to figures released so far,” the consulate said on X, citing Iran’s Fars news agency.
Significantly, the Indian refiners are settling payments to Iranian entities in yuan, as reported by Read earlier.
A US defence official has told Axios news that Iran has conducted at least three attacks on commercial ships that refused to follow orders in the Strait of Hormuz since Saturday morning.
The phenomenon of Indian vessels coming under Iranian fire has been reported even as the US and Iran are exchanging barbs on the status of Hormuz.
In latest developments, Iran has again closed the Strait of Hormuz, apparently as a response to the US blockade.
While the US President has rejected any “tolls or restrictions” that will be or are being levied by Iran on vessels passing via the Strait, Iran’s deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said that the US was trying to sabotage diplomacy.
“President Trump said that if there is no agreement on Wednesday, there will be a return of the military action. Then, let President Trump talk, he talks too much. He said contradictory things within the same statement. This cannot prevail. I don’t know what exactly he meant. The American people must decide about him. If his statements are lying and go with international law, then we will continue our defence with all heroism, nationalism and patriotism. We will defend Iran, the oldest civilization on the planet. We will fight till the last Iranian soldier. War cannot lead to any positive solution. The Americans must understand and must learn the lesson. The era of colonialism must come to an end,” he said in Turkiye.
Meanwhile, speaking on the Iran-US peace talks in Pakistan’s Islamabad, Dr Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi, representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader in India said that they (Iran) had offered a 10-point plan to the US to be the base of negotiation and it was accepted by the US, and they were supposed to come and negotiate based on this plan.
“When they came to Pakistan and started negotiations, they started demanding something else and they refused to negotiate based on the 10-point plan. So, the negotiations failed and now also Iran received some other proposal from the US and maybe they will negotiate later. But up to now, there is no achievement of that negotiation,” he said.
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