Iranian Speedboats Ambush Tanker on Way to Saudi Arabia

MANAMA, Bahrain — Iranian speedboats charged into the territorial waters of pro-Western Oman on Friday and ambushed a tanker on its way to Saudi Arabia, blasting the vessel with machine-gun and grenade fire, shipping officials said.

Also Friday, Iraq said it attacked an oil tanker in Iranian service and destroyed several Iranian war vessels near the Iraqi port of Basra, but the reports could not be independently confirmed.

The attack on the Panamanian-flagged 85,690-ton Topaz in Omani waters was the latest in a number of Iranian incursions into waters of the sultanate in the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman to the south.

An Omani gunboat sped to the scene, but it was too late to intercept the Iranian vessels that attacked the Topaz as it entered the gulf bound for the Saudi port of Jubail on a voyage from Brazil.