New Delhi protests Iran fire at Indian-flagged ships in Hormuz

New Delhi summoned the Iranian ambassador on Saturday to lodge a protest over a "shooting incident" involving two Indian-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the foreign ministry said.

Iran has reversed its pledge to reopen the strategic trade route to commercial traffic during a ceasefire in the Middle East war in protest at a US counter-blockade of the waterway, a crucial passage for crude oil and gas.

Security monitors said several commercial ships came under fire and threats from Iranian forces on Saturday as they tried to cross the strait.

India's foreign ministry said in a statement that Secretary Vikram Misri summoned the Iranian ambassador and "conveyed India's deep concern at the shooting incident earlier today involving two Indian-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz".

New Delhi also urged Iran to "resume at the earliest the process of facilitating India-bound ships across the Strait", the statement said, adding that the envoy "undertook to convey these views to the Iranian authorities".

Monitoring site TankerTrackers.com said in post on X that "two Indian vessels were forced back west out of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran's Sepah (IRGC) Navy", adding one of the vessels was "an Indian-flagged VLCC supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil."

India, the world's second-largest buyer of liquefied petroleum gas, has managed to secure passage for several Indian-flagged vessels in recent weeks.

India imports about 60 percent of its LPG needs and has been grappling with a gas crunch since the war in the Middle East began on 28 February.

New Delhi maintains strong relations with Tehran but has steadily expanded cooperation with Iran's rival Israel in defence, agriculture, technology and cybersecurity.