According to the Public Relations Office of the Hormozgan Province Ports and Maritime Administration, in the early hours of this morning (23 July), two maritime search and rescue vessels, Naji 15 and Naji 16, were struck in a hostile attack by the American–Zionist enemy and sustained severe damage.
According to the report, targeting vessels engaged solely in humanitarian rescue missions demonstrates the perpetrators’ complete disregard for the principles, rules, and international obligations governing such activities, and once again reveals the nature of actions that are contrary to international law against maritime search and rescue infrastructure.
Since the beginning of the Ramadan War, maritime search and rescue vessels operating within the territorial waters of the Islamic Republic of Iran, carrying out missions to provide assistance and save the lives of seafarers, have been targeted by enemy attacks and, due to the severity of the damage sustained, have been taken out of operational service.
This is not the first time that maritime relief and service vessels have been subjected to hostile actions. Previously, the American–Zionist enemy, by targeting marine ambulances responsible for transporting patients and the injured from the islands to medical centers on the mainland, demonstrated the inhumane nature of its actions.
Such actions constitute a violation of the conventions relating to maritime safety and the rules of international humanitarian law, and reflect the perpetrators’ complete disregard for the lives of civilians and maritime search and rescue vessels.
Under international conventions and regulations, including the provisions governing Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) services, maritime search and rescue vessels are tasked with saving the lives of persons and seafarers in distress at sea, providing assistance to seafarers, and delivering humanitarian services.Any attack against these vessels is contrary to the accepted principles of international law and international humanitarian norms.
The Hormozgan Province Ports and Maritime Administration, while condemning this action, emphasizes its continued commitment to carrying out maritime search and rescue missions in accordance with international conventions and to providing safe and uninterrupted services to seafarers.
