A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on March 3, 2020 shows him speaking in a microphone in a garden after a tree-planting ceremony marking the week of "Natural Resources" in the capital Tehran. (PHOTO / KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)

TEHRAN - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday called for investigations into a recent deadly incident during naval exercises in the Sea of Oman, state TV reported.

Khamenei urged Iranian authorities to "properly" investigate the incident, identify those potentially at fault, and take necessary measures to avoid such incidents in the future

In a message to Iran's Chief Army Commander Abdolrahim Mousavi on Tuesday, Khamenei extended his condolences over the "painful and regrettable" incident.

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Khamenei urged Iranian authorities to "properly" investigate the incident, identify those potentially at fault, and take necessary measures to avoid such incidents in the future.

On Saturday evening, 19 Iranian navy servicemen were killed after an incident happened to the Iranian Army's Konarak logistic vessel in the country's waters near the southern port of Jask.

The incident, which happened during naval drills of army, also left 15 other servicemen injured.

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Some unofficial local media reports said that Konarak was targeted "accidentally" in the navy drills.

On Tuesday, a funeral ceremony was held in the southern port city of Chabahar for the deceased sailors.

Iran's army said in a statement that the Konarak vessel has been towed to the Iranian port for further technical investigations.

Mousavi said Tuesday that four expert groups from Iran's Armed Forces, Defense Ministry, Iran's Army and Navy have been dispatched to the site of incident to investigate the cause.

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