EXCLUSIVE
The Iranian Merchant Mariners Syndicate has blamed US and Israeli attacks on Iran’s ports and commerical fleet for civilian deaths.
At least 44 Iranian seafarers have been killed and 29 injured since the start of the United States-Israel war on Iran, according to the head of the country’s merchant marine union.
Among them were 22 civilian sailors, 16 fishermen and six dock workers, who were killed between February 28 and April 1, Iranian Merchant Mariners Syndicate (IMMS) general secretary Saman Rezaei told Al Jazeera on Friday.
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Al Jazeera could not independently verify the list of deceased, which Rezaei said was compiled by Iran Ports and Maritime Organization and members of his union. The list does not include members of Iran’s navy killed by US and Israeli forces, he said.
Rezaei submitted his findings in several letters of complaint to the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization (IMO) during March and April, attributing the deaths to “attacks by US and Israeli armies on Iranian ports and commercial fleets” across Iran’s territorial waters and the Gulf. His letters state that at least 29 Iranian seafarers were also injured and nine are missing.
The IMMS is affiliated with the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and represents workers during negotiations with Iranian shipping companies. Since the war began, it has also offered humanitarian, medical and repatriation assistance to stranded seafarers.
“The humanitarian crisis is affecting all seafarers in the Persian Gulf, including the crews of Iranian-flagged ships. However, they [Iranian seafarers] face a unique and terrifying set of pressures,” Rezaei said.
He said seafarers were not only concerned about supplies running low, but also faced “severe psychological distress” after spending 60 days trapped in a war zone spanning the Gulf to the Indian Ocean.
US and Israeli forces have carried out more than 3,000 air strikes across Iran since February 28, according to the independent conflict monitor Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), while Iran carried out nearly 1,600 retaliatory strikes across the Middle East.
A US-Iran ceasefire has been in force since April 8, but the US separately launched a naval blockade of all Iranian ports on April 13 to cut off Iran’s oil exports and pressure Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The waterway, through which a fifth of the world’s energy and gas exports normally flow, has been de facto closed since the start of the war. The shutdown has stranded 20,000 seafarers in and around the strait for at least two months.
Despite the ceasefire, Iranian forces have continued to fire on ships trying to exit the Strait of Hormuz, and on April 22, seized two Panama and Liberia-flagged cargo ships.
US forces separately seized the Iranian-flagged MV Touska and detained its crew in the Gulf of Oman on April 19, with the US Central Command (CENTCOM) accusing the vessel of violating its naval blockade.
The Touska is also reportedly under US sanctions due to its “prior history of illegal activity”, according to US President Donald Trump.
Rezaei told Al Jazeera that those detained on board the Touska included 23 crew members, two cadets, two women and one child, although these figures could not be independently verified.
He said the two women and the child were among the six members of the Touska released this week by US forces and returned to Iran.
According to the IMO, Iran’s attacks on vessels in the Gulf or those attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz have also killed at least 10 seafarers since the start of the war.
The IMO did not respond to Al Jazeera’s emailed request for comment.
Stephen Cotton, the general secretary of the ITF, told Al Jazeera it was important to remember that the seafarers caught up on either side of the war are civilians.
“The point is, these are seafarers. You can say they are under an Iranian flag, and there are sanctions, but not everybody agrees with the sanctions,” he said.