Bangkok seeks ‘clarification’ from Iran as 3 Thai crew missing following attack on ship

ISTANBUL

Bangkok on Thursday sought “clarification” from Iran and lodged a protest after an attack on a Thai-flagged ship a day earlier in the critical Strait of Hormuz, leaving at least three crew members missing.

The Mayuree Naree, carrying 23 Thai sailors, came under attack amid ongoing US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation against US assets in the region.

The Thai Foreign Ministry summoned Nassereddin Heidari, Iran’s ambassador in Bangkok, “to seek clarification” over the incident, the Thai Enquirer reported.

The vessel was hit on its way to India from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

Soon after the attack, Omani naval forces rescued 20 crew members while search and rescue operations are continuing for the three missing sailors believed to have been working in the ship’s engine room, the report added.

The Thai Foreign Ministry also called for restraint after the vessel was hit, expressing “grave concern” over the escalating crisis in the Middle East.

The crisis poses “serious threats to the lives and safety of innocent civilians in countries in and beyond the region, including Thai nationals,” the ministry said, warning the conflict was also affecting freedom of navigation after the Thai vessel was hit.

The incident comes amid US and Israeli attacks on Iran launched since Feb. 28 that have killed about 1,300 people, including then-Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, dozens of schoolgirls, many other civilians, as well as several top officials.

Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries that host US military assets.

The attack comes as Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz since March, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, on Wednesday, said any vessel seeking to pass through the waterway must get permission from Tehran.

Separately, Bangkok continued to evacuate Thai citizens from the Middle East. A fresh group of 34 Thai nationals evacuated from Iran arrived in Thailand on Thursday after travelling through Türkiye.

According to a tally by Anadolu, at least 19 people from Asian nations have been either killed or remain missing since the conflict broke out on Feb. 28.

They include four from Bangladesh, three each from Pakistan, Thailand and India, and one each from China, Nepal, the Philippines while three from Indonesia are missing.