New Delhi: An alleged audio recording of a distress message from one of the Indian tankers attacked by Iranian gunboats in Strait of Hormuz has surfaced online with an official from the vessel telling Tehran’s navy that the it had a clearance and despite this it was being attacked.
The vessel, Sanmar Herald, was one of the two ships that came under attack on Saturday north of Oman. The other ship being Jag Arnav. While Sanmar Herald was carrying crude oil from Iraq, Jag Arnav was travelling from Saudi Arabia to India.
NEW: Audio from the Indian oil tanker fired on by Iranian Navy in the Strait of Hormuz
“You gave me clearance to go. My name is second on your list. You are firing now. Let me turn back!” pic.twitter.com/C3nouIPzOJ
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) April 18, 2026
The mariner, reportedly from Sanmar Herald, can be heard in the audio clip saying, “Sepah Navy. Sepah Navy. This is motor tanker Sanmar Herald. You gave me clearance to go. My name is second on your list. You are firing now. Let me turn back.”
The 30-second audio was shared by tanker Trackers — a maritime intelligence firm that tracks shipments. No injuries and damage to the vessels were reported.
The incident came amid confusion in the Strait of Hormuz with Iran announcing that the crucial waterway was closed for traffic amid US blockade of vessels from Tehran.
India summoned the Iranian ambassador in the wake of the incident and conveyed “deep concern” over the firing incident. “Reiterating his concern at this serious incident of firing on merchant ships, Foreign Secretary urged the Ambassador to convey India’s views to the authorities in Iran and resume at the earliest the process of facilitating India-bound ships across the Strait. The Ambassador of Iran undertook to convey these views to the Iranian authorities,” a statement from the MEA read.
Meanwhile, the Iranian envoy told India that the attack was “not intentional” and was due to communication gap, News18 reported.
While addressing the shooting incident Dr Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi, representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader in India said the relationship between the countries was strong. “The relationship between Iran and India is very strong and I don’t know anything about this event which you mentioned and we hope that it will be okay and it will be solved,” he told news agency ANI.
He further added the Iran didn’t want this war. “We don’t want this war. We want peace, and we hope that the other side will also follow peace so that we can have a peaceful area,” he added.
