Two Indian-flagged tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bound for ports in the country's west have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in Iran, with officials confirming they "crossed the Strait of Hormuz early morning safely and are en route to India."
Iran's ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, confirmed Tehran had allowed some Indian vessels to pass the Strait of Hormuz in a rare exception to the blockade that has disrupted global energy supplies. Tehran has largely halted traffic through the key sea route that normally carries one-fifth of global oil supplies since the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran late last month.
Meanwhile, a chartered plane arranged by Iran departed southern India late on Friday carrying sailors from a naval vessel that had docked in the country, as well as the bodies of crew members killed in a US attack off Sri Lanka. After days of uncertainty following Iranian attacks on ships, Tehran on Friday confirmed that Indian vessels would be allowed to pass through the strait.
The aircraft had earlier taken off from Sri Lanka carrying the bodies of 84 Iranian sailors killed in a U.S. submarine attack on the Iranian warship IRIS Dena, which was sunk by a torpedo from a U.S. submarine on March 4 while returning from a naval exercise in India. The war has prompted a critical shortage of cooking gas in India, a country with longstanding ties to Iran.
