<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">A "projectile" has hit a tanker carrying gas oil off the coast of Oman, the Israeli-owned shipping company that operates the vessel said Wednesday.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The Pacific Zircon was "hit by a projectile approximately 150 miles off the coast of Oman ... on 15 November," Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping said in a statement, adding that there were no reports of casualties or any leakage of the cargo.</div><div><br></div><div>"There is some minor damage to the vessel's hull but no spillage of cargo or water ingress," said the company which is owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer -- one of two sons of shipping magnate Sammy Ofer, who died in 2011.</div><div><br></div><div>The Bahrain-based United States Fifth Fleet said it was "aware of the incident".</div><div><br></div><div>UK Maritime Trade Operations, a British monitor, also said it knew of the incident.</div><div><br></div><div>It was not immediately clear who launched the projectile.</div><div><br></div><div>Heightened tensions between arch foes Washington and Tehran in recent years have involved attacks on tankers in Gulf waters that are vital to world fuel supplies.</div><div><br></div><div>The area has also seen naval incidents between the two countries, including in August, when Washington said it prevented an Iranian ship from capturing a US maritime drone in the Gulf.</div><div><br></div><div>Iran and world powers have engaged in on-off talks to revive a landmark 2015 deal that sought to curb Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.</div><div><br></div><div>The United States, Britain, France and Germany have submitted a motion to the UN nuclear watchdog censuring Iran for lack of cooperation with the agency, diplomats told AFP this week.</div><div><br></div><div>"The risk of attacks against shipping and energy infrastructure in the wider region is rising mainly due to the lack of progress in US-Iranian nuclear diplomacy," said Torbjorn Soltvedt, Middle East analyst with the Verisk Maplecroft risk intelligence company.</div><div><br></div><div>A decision by Washington to apply further sanctions pressure on Tehran has exacerbated the risk of further attacks, Soltvedt said.</div><div><br></div><div>Iran has been rocked by two months of mass protests -- the biggest in years -- following the death in September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by Iran's notorious morality police for an alleged breach of its strict dress code for women, reports AFP&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>"Ongoing mass protests against the Iranian government also make it more likely that Tehran will seek to stoke unrest in the broader region as a diversionary tactic," Soltvedt said.</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>