Iran's largest warship sinks after catching fire

• Officials tried for 20 hours to put out the fire, but were unable to as the flames spread to different parts of the ship.
• The Kharg was being deployed for training operations when the blaze erupted.

The big picture: While Iranian officials have not offered any cause that might have started the fire, this was the latest in a series of mysterious explosions that has been targeting ships in the Gulf of Oman since 2019, AP reports.

• The U.S. accused Iran of being responsible for a series of attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz in 2019, saying the regime was engaged in "an unacceptable campaign of escalating tensions."
• Iran has denied targeting ships in the area, but U.S. Navy footage caught members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps removed an unexploded limpet mine from a vessel in 2019.

Yes, but: Iran's ships have experienced incidents in the past that were unrelated to conflicts with foreign nations. In 2020, a training vessel was mistakenly hit by a missile near the Port of Jask, ending in 19 casualties, per AP.