Iranian ship
Iranian shipiStock

A fire broke out in an Iranian navy training vessel near the mouth of the Gulf on Tuesday night, but the crew was able to safely disembark, Reuters reported, citing the semi-official news agency Fars.

The incident occurred near the Iranian port of Jask situated on the Gulf of Oman, the report said. No further details were provided.

It comes more than a year after an Iranian warship accidentally struck another with a missile during an exercise, killing 19 sailors and wounding 15 others.

The area in which the incidents have taken place has seen tense encounters between the US and Iran in recent years.

In the last few years there have been several close encounters between Iranian and American vessels in the Persian Gulf. The Revolutionary Guard typically patrols the shallower waters of the Persian Gulf and its narrow mouth, the Strait of Hormuz.

One such incident in May of 2020 included a tense encounter between US and Iranian ships in the Persian Gulf.

The US military said at the time that 11 Revolutionary Guards naval vessels from the Guards navy came close to US Navy and coast guard ships in the Gulf, calling the moves “dangerous and provocative”.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard acknowledged that the incident had taken place, but also claimed that it was American forces who sparked the incident.

In April of 2020, a spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces said that the Islamic Republic will respond “severely” if US vessels violate its territorial waters.