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The UAE says Iran attacked two ADNOC tankers with drones in the Strait of Hormuz. The incident sharpens shipping security fears as fresh US-led Gaza diplomacy begins.
Dubai,UPDATED: Aug 14, 2026 14:50 IST
The United Arab Emirates has accused Iran of attacking two ADNOC-operated oil tankers with drones in the Strait of Hormuz, calling the strikes acts of piracy. There were no casualties, but the incident again highlighted the risks for commercial vessels using the key shipping route from the Persian Gulf to open waters.
In another development in the wider Middle East, Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and negotiator, is set to travel to the region next week for talks on Gaza. The visit comes after a deal recently announced by the Trump administration faced opposition from Israel.
ADNOC, Abu Dhabi's state-owned oil and gas company, said the two tankers were attacked on Thursday evening while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. It said there were no injuries and that "the situation has been brought under control".
The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said two vessels suffered minor damage in drone attacks while passing through the Strait of Hormuz. It did not identify the vessels as the ADNOC ships, though it appeared to be the same incident. The UAE Foreign Ministry blamed Iran and said the attacks were a "flagrant violation" of the United Nations' principles of freedom of navigation. "Targeting commercial shipping and using the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of economic coercion or blackmail represents acts of piracy by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, and constitutes a direct threat to the stability of the region, its peoples, and global energy security," the ministry said. There was no immediate response from Iran.
On Gaza, an official with the Board of Peace, set up by Trump to oversee the fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, said Kushner would travel with the board's high representative Nickolay Mladenov and executive board member and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The three are expected to arrive in Israel on Sunday and then travel to Cairo, where a Palestinian technocratic group due to assume control of Gaza under a US-brokered ceasefire deal has been holding meetings for the past several months. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, saying details of the trip had not yet been finalised. Axios first reported the visit.
The latest developments bring together two major strands of tension in the region: fresh concern over the safety of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and a new diplomatic push on Gaza after resistance to the US-backed deal.
With PTI Inputs
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Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Aug 14, 2026 14:50 IST
