Oil slick from bombed Iranian ship threatens protected wetland

Shahid Bagheri leaking fuel towards Hara mangrove forest, home to migrating birds and endangered turtles

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An oil slick from a stricken Iranian ship threatens to contaminate one of west Asia’s most important wetlands, satellite image analysis suggests, one of a number of spills posing a threat to the livelihoods of coastal communities in the Gulf.

The Shahid Bagheri, an Iranian drone carrier, began leaking heavy fuel oil in Iranian territorial waters near the strait of Hormuz about a month ago, after it was hit by a US warplane in the first few days of the US-Israel attack on Iran.