UAE says tanker belonging to Abu Dhabi state energy company targeted by Iranian drones in Strait of Hormuz

The government of the United Arab Emirates said Monday that a tanker owned by the Abu Dhabi state energy giant ADNOC was targeted by two drones as it attempted to transit the Strait of Hormuz, condemning "in the strongest terms" what it called an "Iranian terrorist attack."

Two drones targeted the carrier "affiliated with ADNOC as it transited through the Strait of Hormuz, with no injuries reported," the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, without providing any further details.

"The Ministry emphasized that targeting commercial shipping and using the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of economic coercion or blackmail represents acts of piracy by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, and constitutes a direct threat to the stability of the region, its peoples, and global energy security," the statement said.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the tanker, which was not identified by name, had made it through the strait, or if it had attempted to coordinate passage with the U.S. military or Omani authorities under the newly launched "Project Freedom."

President Trump said the project would see the U.S. military "guide" vessels through the waterway, but it wasn't clear exactly how that would be carried out. 

The U.S. military's Central Command said early Monday that it had established an "enhanced security area" south of the usual shipping routes through the strait, and it urged mariners to coordinate closely with Omani authorities "due to anticipated high traffic volume."