Iran Warns of Environmental Damage After Oil Spill Reaches Qeshm

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Iran warned Thursday of environmental damage in the Strait of Hormuz after an oil spill reached the southern Qeshm island, calling for compensation while conflicting accounts emerged over the source of the pollution.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said the spill had degraded waters in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, claiming that "preliminary evidence indicates a foreign bulk carrier as the source."

Baqaei said oil spills in recent decades had caused "trillions of dollars" in damage to Iran's coastal areas and called for those responsible to compensate for the environmental harm.

"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," he said in a post on X.

However, TankerTrackers, a US-hosted platform that monitors global shipping movements, disputed Tehran's account of the spill's origin.

The platform said the pollution appeared to have resulted from an Iranian attack on the bulk carrier Minoan Pioneer in Omani waters on August 3.

"The spillage then drifted across the strait over to Iran," TankerTrackers said.

Iranian authorities said the spill had reached Qeshm but was "almost completely cleaned up" by Wednesday evening.

Habib Masihi, head of the environmental protection department in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, said approximately 32,000 square meters of coastline had been affected, along with waters covering about 90,000 square meters.

Sheena Ansari, head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organization, described the incident as another example of the environmental damage affecting the region's marine ecosystem.

"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," Ansari said on X.

She questioned who should bear responsibility for the damage.

"Who is responsible for compensating for the damage? The countries consuming energy exports from our region or the aggressors who have made this region a staging ground for military operations?" she wrote.

Hormuz Tensions

The spill comes amid heightened tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has maintained control since the outbreak of the Middle East war on February 28 and has restricted the passage of vessels carrying energy exports from US-allied Gulf countries.

Tehran has said it intends to impose navigation fees on vessels using the strategic waterway, arguing that the revenues would help finance services including environmental protection.

The United States and several regional countries have opposed the proposed fees.

The latest pollution incident also follows another oil slick reported in recent days near neighboring Oman after a tanker ran aground.

An AFP investigation previously found that the vessel had remained stranded for weeks near Oman's Al-Qibliyyah island after sustaining damage in explosions, raising further concerns over the environmental risks facing shipping routes around the Strait of Hormuz.