A drone launched from Iran struck a chemical tanker in the Indian ocean early on Saturday, the US Department of Defense said.
"The motor vessel Chem Pluto, a Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned, and Netherlands-operated chemical tanker was struck at approximately 10 am local time (6 am GMT)...in the Indian Ocean, 200 nautical miles from the coast of India, by a one-way attack drone fired from Iran," a Pentagon spokesperson told Reuters.
The incident highlights escalating regional tensions and new risk to shipping lanes after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
The Iranian government, as well as its allied forces in Yemen, have publicly criticised the Israeli government's military operation in Gaza. Thousands of Palestinian citizens have been killed in the ongoing conflict, according to aid monitors.
The Pentagon statement said this was the "seventh Iranian attack on commercial shipping since 2021”.
There were no casualties as a result of the attack and a brief fire on board the tanker was extinguished.
A spokesperson for the Iranian delegation at the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Judges at the top United Nations court ordered Israel on Friday to halt its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in a landmark emergency ruling on South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide.
Twenty people who were aboard a Singapore Airlines flight that hit severe turbulence and diverted to Bangkok for an emergency landing on Tuesday remain in intensive care. Others are being treated for spinal cord and brain injuries.
A two-storey restaurant building collapsed on the beach in Palma de Mallorca killing at least four people and injuring 16 people in the tourism hot spot in Spain's Balearic Islands.
Israeli forces killed 35 Palestinians in aerial and ground bombardments across the Gaza Strip on Thursday and battled in close combat with Hamas in areas of the southern city of Rafah, health officials and Hamas media said.