TEHRAN – An informed source at the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum told Mehr News Agency that the recent incident in the Gulf of Aden has nothing to do with the Iran, referring to an incident off the coast of Yemen where an oil tanker went up in flames on October 18, 2025.

“The vessel does not belong to the [Iranian] Ministry of Petroleum and the National Iranian Tanker Company,” said the source. The denial followed reports that an oil tanker allegedly owned by Iran heading to Yemen had been attacked by Israel 

A Cameroonian-flagged ship caught fire Saturday in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen after possibly being struck by a projectile, reports said, with at least one sailor missing and another still probably aboard the burning tanker after the rest of the crew abandoned the vessel.

British and European Union officials offered differing opinions about what sparked the blaze on the LPG tanker FALCON, with the British suggesting a projectile hit it, while the EU said that it appeared to be an accident. They warned ships in the area that the vessel could explode because it was “fully loaded” with liquefied petroleum gas. 

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said it had received a report of a projectile attack on a vessel 116 nautical miles east of Aden, sparking a fire on board. It said maritime authorities were “verifying details of the incident” and urged ships in the area to exercise caution and report any suspicious activity.

Separately, the British maritime security firm Ambrey said the tanker had issued a distress call after an onboard explosion about 60 nautical miles south of Ahwar, a district in Yemen’s Abyan governorate. Ambrey said the blast was caused by a projectile fired from an unknown source off the Yemeni coast in the Gulf of Aden. No injuries were reported among the crew, and there was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

The Indian-owned Cameroon-flagged tanker had already been detained in January 2025 in Istanbul for 13 deficiencies. The ship isn’t blacklisted by any government.