BAGHDAD, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's security and port authorities confirmed Thursday that two oil tankers were attacked within Iraqi territorial waters, prompting a suspension of operations at the country's oil terminals.
Farhan Al-Fartousi, director general of the General Company for Ports of Iraq, confirmed the operational status to the official Iraqi News Agency, saying that oil terminal operations have been fully suspended, though commercial port activities continue.
Al-Fartousi noted the vessels were hit by an explosion, though it remains unclear whether it was a direct strike or a waterborne improvised explosive device.
He added that rescue teams were deployed to extinguish the fires on the tankers, which were located approximately 30 miles (about 48 kilometers) off the Iraqi coast.
Meanwhile, Iraq's State Organization for Marketing of Oil confirmed that one tanker was flying the Marshall Islands flag and chartered to an Iraqi company it contracted, while the other was flying the Maltese flag and loaded with condensate from Iraq's Basrah Gas Company.
Lieutenant General Saad Maan, head of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command's Security Media Cell, told Iraqi News Agency that rescue teams evacuated 38 crew members, while one fatality was reported.
The accident came amid heightened regional tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran starting on Feb. 28, to which Iran and its regional proxies responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and U.S. interests throughout the Middle East. ■
