A BRITISH armed forces veteran has been killed in a "kamikaze drone attack" on an oil-tanker believed to have been carried out by Iran.

The attack on the Mercer Street, which is linked to an Israeli billionaire, occurred off Oman in the Arabian Sea and a Romanian crew member was also killed.

The Brit, who has not been named, was working for the Herefordshire based security company Ambrey and was onboard the 600ft tanker.

It comes as 500 Royal Marines and a Royal Navy littoral strike group – which specialises in storming beaches – prepares to base itself in Duqm, Oman to increase the UK’s global presence.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the Thursday night raid on the Liberian-flagged Mercer Street.

But a US official said it appears a so-called suicide drone was used in the attack, raising the possibility that a government or a militia group was behind it.

The US Navy rushed to the scene following the attack and was escorting the tanker to a safe harbour, a London-based ship management company said Friday.

Analysts said the attack bore all the hallmarks of tit-for-tat exchanges in the "shadow war" between Israel and Iran, in which vessels linked to each nation have been targeted in waters around the Gulf.

Meir Javedanfar, an expert on Iranian diplomacy and security at Israel's IDC Herzliya university, told AFP the attack was "most probably Iran".

ONE WAY MISSION

In 2019, two oil tankers , the Front Altair and Kokuka Courageous, were attacked by torpedos and burst into flames off the coast of Iran.

Balaclava-clad Iranian commandos seized the British tanker Stena Impero that year.

Earlier this year, Iran tested kamikaze drones in two day exercises.

A unnamed US official, told The Associated Press that the attack appeared to have been carried out by a “one-way” drone and other drones took part. 

London-based Zodiac Maritime, part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group, said the attack killed two crew members, one from the United Kingdom and the other from Romania.

It did not name them, nor did it describe what happened in the assault and said it believed no other crew members on board were harmed.

“At the time of the incident the vessel was in the northern Indian Ocean, traveling from Dar es Salaam to Fujairah with no cargo onboard,” said Zodiac Maritime, naming ports in Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates respectively.

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Beyond surveillance, Iranian drones can drop munitions and also carry out a "kamikaze" flight when loaded with explosives and flown into a target, according to a US official who spoke to Reuters.

Iran has developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of international sanctions and embargoes barring it from importing many weapons.

Western military analysts say Iran sometimes exaggerates its weapons capabilities, though concerns about its ballistic missiles contributed to Washington leaving the nuclear pact.

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