Iran seeks compensation over Hormuz oil spill

Iran has called for compensation after an oil spill reached Qeshm island in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran says preliminary evidence points to a foreign bulk carrier, while a shipping monitor linked the spill to an earlier attack on a vessel in Omani waters. PARIS: Iran on Thursday warned of environmental damage in the Strait of Hormuz after an oil spill spread to the southern island of Qeshm, and called for compensation from those responsible. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the spill had degraded waters in the Gulf and the Sea of Oman. He said preliminary evidence pointed to a foreign bulk carrier as the source. In a post on X, Baqaei said such spills had in recent decades caused trillions of dollars in damage to Iran's coastal areas and argued that those responsible should pay compensation. He added that all parties benefiting from commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had both a legal and moral duty to address the environmental harm caused there. "Every party that benefits from commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz carries both a legal and a moral obligation to remediate the environmental harm inflicted" However, TankerTrackers, a US-hosted website that monitors shipping movements around the world, said the spill appeared to be linked to an Iranian attack on the bulk carrier Minoan Pioneer in Omani waters on August 3. According to the website, the spilled oil later moved across the strait toward Iran. "The spillage then drifted across the strait over to Iran" Habib Masihi, head of the environmental protection department in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, said the spill had reached Qeshm island but was almost entirely cleaned by Wednesday evening. He said roughly 32,000 square metres of coastal land were affected, along with waters covering 90,000 square metres. Sheena Ansari, who heads Iran's Environmental Protection Organisation, said pollution on Qeshm's southern coast reflected wider contamination that had harmed the area's marine ecosystem over past decades. In a post on X, she questioned who should bear responsibility for the damage, asking whether it should fall on countries consuming the region's energy exports or on those she described as aggressors that had turned the area into a base for military operations. "The oil pollution on the southern coast of Qeshm is just one example of the widespread pollution that has destroyed the region's marine ecosystem over the past few decades" The incident comes amid heightened tensions in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Since the outbreak of the Middle East war on February 28, Iran has maintained control over the waterway and blocked ships carrying energy exports from US-allied Gulf countries. Tehran has also said it intends to impose navigation fees on vessels passing through the strait to help finance services including environmental protection, a move opposed by the United States and some countries in the region. The latest spill follows another recent slick near Oman after a tanker ran aground. An earlier AFP investigation found that vessel had remained stranded for weeks near Oman's Al-Qibliyyah island after being damaged by explosions.