India, April 20 -- An audio recording, reportedly from Sanmar Herald, one of the two Indian tankers that were fired upon by the Iranian navy north of Oman, has surfaced.

An official from the tanker can be heard telling Tehran's navy that it was firing at the India-flagged vessel, despite having given clearance for it to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

The audio recording was released by TankerTrackers.com. In a statement on X, TankerTrackers said that such recordings make their way throughout the maritime grapevine, usually over WhatsApp. TankerTrackers said that it verified that the AIS movements of Sanmar Herald corroborate the timing of that audio.

"Sepah Navy! Sepah Navy! This is Motor Vessel Sanmar Herald. You gave me clearance to g...