Iran Military Accident: 19 Sailors Killed In Major Training Exercise Accident

The Iranian military on Monday confirmed a missile accident during a live-training exercise that killed 19 sailors and injured 15.

The friendly fire incident occurred in an exercise near the port town of Jask on Sunday, when missiles were fired at the Konarak support ship, Iranian state news reported.

“On Sunday afternoon, during an exercise by a number of the navy's vessels in Jask and Chabahar waters, the Konarak light support vessel had an accident,” the army Iranian army said in the. “The number of this accident's martyrs is 19 and 15 have also been injured.”

It is not typical for Iran to report incidents of this nature, likely indicating the scale of the Konarak incident. Jask is located roughly 800 miles southeast of the capital city of Tehran.

Reports from Iran suggest that the Konarak may have been at fault for being to close to the target of the missiles. It had been going around deploying targets when the ships fired. The Jamaran, a Moudge-class warship, is reportedly the vessel that ended up hitting the support ship.

The Konarak has been towed to a port for repairs, while the level of damage is unknown. It is also unknown how many crew members were on board when the missile struck, though it is typically known to carry 20.

This is Iran’s second accidental missile-fire incident this year. Previously, the country’s Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane in January, killing all 176 of its crew and passengers. While the incident aroused suspicion due to its proximity to the tensions between Iran and the U.S., the Iranian government claimed that the missiles were fired by mistake.