Iran said Tuesday a suspected oil spill near its main export hub at Kharg Island was likely caused by a foreign tanker dumping contaminated ballast water, not a leak from its own facilities.
Satellite images from May 6–8 showed a grey-and-white slick stretching across dozens of square kilometers west of the island, a key oil hub in the Gulf.
Vice President and environmental chief Shina Ansari said monitoring found “no oil leaks… from pipelines or oil facilities,” and blamed a “non-Iranian tanker” for the discharge, according to state media.
Iran’s Oil Terminals Company also said inspections found no signs of leaks from storage tanks, pipelines or nearby tankers.
Analysts reviewing the imagery said the slick appears to be oil and could be one of the largest seen since the start of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, Reuters reported.