Iranian forces appear to have deliberately targeted at least two civilian commercial ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz on March 11, 2026, which would amount to war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today. The attacks, and threat of attack, may also contribute to significant global cost increases in energy, food, and other critical sectors, to the detriment of people's rights.
"Deliberately targeting civilian ships and their crew members is a war crime," said Niku Jafarnia, Middle East and North Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "War crimes do not justify further war crimes, and Iran, the United States, and Israel should all immediately end unlawful attacks on civilians and civilian objects and should stop attempting to frame these objects as legitimate targets."
Starting on March 1, Iranian forces reportedly began attacking commercial ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz in response to US and Israeli attacks on Iran, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations agency. On March 11, Ebrahim Zofaghari, a spokesperson for Iran's armed forces, said in a speech that if the United States and Israel continued to carry out attacks on Iran, Iranian forces would not allow "one liter of oil" through the strait.
Arsenio Dominquez, the IMO secretary-general, stated on March 6: "Around 20,000 seafarers remain stranded in the Persian Gulf, on board ships under heightened risk and considerable mental strain."
Human Rights Watch documented the apparent deliberate targeting of two commercial ships, the Safesea Vishnu and the Mayuree Naree, on March 11 through statements made by Iranian authorities claiming these attacks; photographs and videos posted online of the direct aftermath of the attacks and, in the case of the Safesea Vishnu, the apparent moment of attack; and data gathered by the IMO.
Between March 1 and 17, the IMO confirmed 17 incidents of damage to commercial vessels from 16 apparent attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf, and the Gulf of Oman. It also reported that seven seafarers and one shipyard worker had been killed, four seafarers were missing, and ten people were injured, five severely.
An IMO representative told Human Rights Watch that the organization receives data from authorities such as the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), the Joint Maritime Information Centre (JMIC), and the Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean (MSCIO). It said that the organization directly verifies information it receives with the vessels' flag states to document attacks. It said the organization was unable to confirm who was responsible for the 16 attacks. However, the IMO Council adopted a decision on March 19 in which they "strongly condemned the threats and attacks against vessels and purported closure of the Strait of Hormuz by the Islamic Republic of Iran."
Human Rights Watch identified all the vessels included by the IMO in vessel tracking websites and was able to corroborate that they were civilian commercial vessels with civilian crews. In some cases, Human Rights Watch identified their location at the time of the attack. In addition to corroborating attacks on the Safesea Vishnu and Mayuree Naree, researchers corroborated attacks on two other vessels-Skylight and Safeen Prestige-through photographs and videos posted online as well as online statements made by government and military entities, along with a third vessel-the MKD Vyom-by statements alone. In these three cases, Human Rights Watch could not confirm who was responsible for the attacks.
One-quarter of the world's "seaborne oil trade" travels through the Strait of Hormuz. Since the conflict began, the price of crude oil has risen by 40 percent, according to the New York Times. The International Energy Agency has stated: "The war in the Middle East is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market."
On March 16, Brigadier General Ali Mohammad Naini, a spokesman for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who was reportedly killed in an Israeli strike on March 20, stated that Iranian forces had targeted all vessels owned by a US or Israeli entity, regardless of their flag country. He did not indicate whether he was referring to military or civilian vessels, or both. The Joint Maritime Information Center stated on March 11 that while some of the vessels that had been struck since March 1 had "potential Western commercial associations…multiple attacks have involved vessels with no confirmed affiliation to US or Israeli ownership."
Lloyd's List Intelligence, a maritime data and intelligence company, reported that some vessels have continued to pass through the strait between March 1 and 18 and noted: "Shadow fleet vessels [ships engaging in illegal operations for the purposes of circumventing sanctions] carrying Iranian oil and gas account for most transits through the Strait of Hormuz."
Human Rights Watch wrote to Iranian authorities on March 18 seeking clarification about the attacks but did not receive a response.
Iranian authorities, in statements they made pertaining to the two ships they claimed to have targeted-the Safesea Vishnu and Mayuree Naree-did not state that the vessels were military objects, nor did they present any evidence to demonstrate that anything on board the ships could have constituted military objects.
Under international humanitarian law, it is forbidden in any circumstance to carry out direct attacks against civilians and civilian objects, and warring parties are obligated to take all feasible precautions to avoid harm to civilians and civilian objects. Civilian vessels with commercial ties to the United States or Israel remain civilian objects. Warring parties must take all necessary action to verify that targets are military objectives. A person who commits serious violations of the laws of war with criminal intent-that is, intentionally or recklessly-may be prosecuted for war crimes. Individuals may also be held criminally liable for assisting in, facilitating, aiding, or abetting a war crime.
The effects of global fossil fuel dependence, and its connections to concentrated corporate power and authoritarian governments, are increasingly evident, Human Rights watch said. A just transition to renewable energy is an environmental and geopolitical urgency now more than ever. This requires concomitant efforts to provide universal access to public services such as social security, education, and health care to guarantee everyone's rights and accelerate the transition.
"Iranian forces' attacks on civilian ships in the Strait of Hormuz will result in harm to some of the most socioeconomically disadvantaged people across the globe," Jafarnia said. "Iranian forces should immediately end these attacks, rescue the remaining three crew members aboard the Mayuree Naree, and release any seafarers they have detained."
