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India has formally summoned Iran's ambassador to New Delhi following a dramatic shooting incident involving two Indian-flagged crude oil tankers attempting to cross the volatile Strait of Hormuz.
India's Ministry of External Affairs confirmed on Saturday that the two vessels, both carrying crude oil, came under attack while transiting the strait of hormuz.
The diplomatic response was swift. Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Fathali was called in for a formal meeting with India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, during which Misri conveyed what the Ministry described as India's "deep concern" over the shooting incident.
Mr Misri urged the ambassador to pass India's views directly on to Tehran, signalling that New Delhi expects a substantive response from the Iranian government over an incident that has placed two of its flagged ships and their crews in direct harm.
The attacks come against the backdrop of an already fraught and combustible situation in the Persian Gulf,.
The United States currently enforcing a major naval blockade of Iranian ports following the collapse of nuclear talks in Pakistan earlier this week.
The US operation involves more than 10,000 military personnel, over a dozen warships and scores of aircraft, and has already turned back at least six merchant vessels attempting to reach Iranian ports.
While Washington has repeatedly stressed that the blockade is not intended to disrupt wider international shipping, the attack on the two Indian vessels underscores just how quickly the situation in the region can spiral.
The Strait of Hormuz serves as the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, and any disruption there carries immediate consequences for global energy markets.
India, one of the world's largest oil importers, is heavily dependent on crude oil moving through the strait, making the safety of its flagged vessels a matter of national economic and strategic interest.
Indian officials have not yet publicly attributed responsibility for the attack, but the swift summoning of Iran's ambassador suggests a pointed diplomatic message.
