Updated on May 13, 2020. 14:30 Local Time:
The Army spokesman announced the “rumors” about IRGC firing at Konarak is nothing but an “attempt by our enemies to create a rift among Armed Forces and Iranians should be vigilent of such actions and don’t fall for it.” However, after 3 days, Rouhani and Zarif haven’t yet issued any statement even as a condolence message to victims’ families. All of this, is a clear reminder of what happened after #PS752 was shot down by IRGC and everybody in the regime denied it. The difference is, there was no foreigner on Konarak, then I guess it’s not important what happened, right?!
On Sunday, May 10, 2020, news circulated on social media, particularly Twitter, that Iran destroyer Jamaran has mistakenly fired upon another Iranian warship called Konarak, a Hindijan-class support vessel. It was said more than 40 sailors have died, 22 bodies found and many injured. The wounded were reportedly taken to Chabahar hospital.
Yasser Hazbavi, a hardliner close to Saeed Jalili, was one of the firsts from inside Iran tweeting:
“Jamaran has mistakenly fired a surface to surface missile sinking Konarak. It’s said 40 are MIA. More than 40 are dead.”
IRGC-affiliated Javan newspaper reporter, tweeted:
“Injured are taken to Chabahar hospital, and according to sources, there are more than 40 dead, 22 bodies have been found so far.”
The incident has supposedly happened during a Naval exercise in Bandar-e-Jask and Chabahar Harbor waters. It’s said it was during the afternoon but the news came out around 2 AM local time on Monday. State media didn’t report on the incident until 3:30 AM local time on Monday, and they were all as “unconfirmed”.
It took the officials almost 24 hours after the incident to issue a statement confirming the story of social media, saying 19 were killed and 15 injured who are all in stable and good condition. However, the story doesn’t end here.
Monday afternoon, local time, new information has come to light which are not confirmed. It’s said the Naval exercise has ended at around 11 AM local time on Sunday and Jamaran destroyer was not even in the area when the incident has happened, around 4 PM, according to locals. They say an IRGC Thondar speedboat fired at Konarak and sped away.
Confirming the theory that IRGC has been behind the attack, a Naval officer has claimed the same saying there is no doubt that IRGC has fired at Konarak. He wanted to stay anonymous.
Although the officials have promised to investigate this incident thoroughly but we all know what happened to PS752 “human error accident” investigation!
This post will be updated with new information.