Egypt, Gulf states condemn Iranian attack targeting UAE oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz

Egypt and the Gulf Cooperation Council of six Arab Persian Gulf nations condemned Iran's latest attack on a commercial vessel in the region Monday, which saw a UAE-owned tanker targeted by two Iranian drones.

Egypt said in a statement that it "denounces the blatant attack that targeted a UAE tanker while it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz," calling it a "blatant violation of the principles of international law, which affirm and guarantee freedom of international navigation."

In a separate statement, Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), "condemned, in the strongest terms, the treacherous attacks that targeted an Emirati tanker belonging to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) while it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz."

"These brutal Iranian attacks, targeting ships passing through the Strait, constitutes piracy and a serious threat to the security of maritime routes and straits, and represents a flagrant violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions," Albudaiwi said. 

The UAE said earlier that the ADNOC vessel was targeted in the strait but that there were no injuries. It did not say whether the tanker sustained any damage, and it remained unclear whether the vessel had sought to coordinate its passage through the waterway via the new Project Freedom initiative being led by the U.S. military.