Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on Iranian army commanders to probe a missile strike that accidentally killed 19 service members during naval drills in the country’s southeast last week. In his statement, Khamenei ordered the officials to “shed light” on the incident, identify the “possible culprits” and take necessary measures to avoid any future recurrence of such a tragedy, which he lamented as “bitter and painful.”
On May 12, fellow comrades bid farewell to the sailors during a state funeral near the port city of Chabahar. Based on the initial explanation from navy commanders, the missile was fired by mistake during one of the many routine exercises Iran holds in the Gulf of Oman, close to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which is the maritime passageway for 20% of the world’s oil traffic.