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(CNN) - An oil tanker belonging to the National Iranian Oil Company was damaged by an explosion on Friday, the Iranian state agency IRNA reported.
The tanker was 96 kilometers from the Saudi port of Jeddah in the Red Sea when the explosion that damaged its structure occurred, IRNA reported. No further details were provided.
Press TV, also from Iran, tweeted on Friday about the incident: "Report: Explosion in Iranian tanker has caused a fire on the boat near the Saudi port city of Jeddah."
A series of attacks against oil tankers and production facilities in the region has increased tensions in recent months.
In September, the Abqaiq oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia, the largest of its kind in the world, was targeted by a series of drone attacks that halved the country's oil production.
The Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack, but both Saudi and American investigators claimed that "with a very high probability" it was launched from an Iranian base.
This followed the attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz in July, including the capture of the tanker with the British flag Stena Impero by Iran. The ship was finally released from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas at the end of September.
