Three Sources Confirm Iranian Attack on Navigation Systems on Oman’s Didamar Island

Key Facts

Three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Iran attacked ship navigation systems on Oman’s Didamar Island in the Strait of Hormuz on November 11, 2026, after Tehran announced the attacks on Tuesday. The account puts the Omani island at the center of a new development involving equipment that helps ships navigate the strait, but the extent of the damage has not been determined. The three sources said they had not provided an estimate of the damage, while Reuters was unable to independently verify whether any navigation systems had been destroyed. The attack therefore remained confirmed by the sources who spoke to the agency, while the status of the equipment remained unclear. The issue has operational significance in a passage used by Gulf oil exports, at a time when vessel traffic depends on more than one navigation system at different locations.

Iranian state media, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that the Revolutionary Guards carried out strikes that destroyed what they called “the enemy’s navigation systems” on Didamar. The announcement differs from what Reuters was able to verify, as the destruction of any system was not independently confirmed. Reuters also said it had seen smoke rising from the island in a video, but that it was unclear what was burning. An image from the European Union’s Copernicus program showed thermal activity without identifying its source. These details leave Tehran’s account of the systems’ destruction separate from the independent assessment of the damage.

Two sources in the shipping sector and a maritime security source said the attacks were likely to have a limited impact on commercial shipping through the strait. One source attributed this to the presence of other systems at different locations, allowing vessels to continue relying on equipment outside the island. That assessment does not mean the damage on Didamar has been determined: the sources who confirmed the attack did not assess it, and Reuters could not establish whether any systems had been destroyed. The maritime sources’ assessment reflects a possible reading of the operational impact, not a confirmed tally of vessel traffic after the attack. The report gave no numerical estimate of changes in commercial traffic or exports as a result of the incident.

Didamar houses the Hormuz monitoring center, operated by the Royal Oman Navy in peacetime, as well as a lighthouse, a radio communications tower and a marine radar mounted on a 25-meter tower, according to The Maritime Executive magazine. In a report published before the attack, a senior Omani official said the island’s navigation aids had not been hit. The magazine also said images taken on the morning of November 10 showed no apparent damage to the lighthouse or the radio and radar masts. That assessment concerns images taken before the attack, which sources confirmed took place on November 11, and does not determine the condition of the equipment afterward. The state of the island’s equipment after the attack therefore remained subject to a subsequent damage assessment.

The attack comes as Gulf states increasingly use alternative arrangements to boost oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, including transferring oil from one vessel to another off the coasts of Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Gulf oil exports had recovered to more than 80% of pre-war levels during September and October 2026, according to a Reuters report. The report attributed the recovery to flows through the strait with the assistance of the U.S. military, and to higher Saudi exports through the Red Sea port of Yanbu. This background helps explain the continuation of oil flows through multiple arrangements and routes, without by itself establishing that the attack changed export volumes. The available information contains no estimate of the incident’s impact on oil prices or shipping flows.

The U.S. military is helping commercial vessels transit the strait, a Reuters report said, after Iranian attacks disrupted traffic since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began in late February. The attack on navigation systems comes amid disruption to transit, while maritime sources’ assessments point to the presence of other equipment at different locations. The available information contained no official Omani update on damage following the attack, nor was a date set for a further announcement. The unresolved questions are whether systems on Didamar were destroyed and what caused the observed smoke and thermal activity. The available assessment of the impact on commercial shipping remains the view of two sources in the sector and a maritime security source that the effect would be limited.