Three tankers hit in latest attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, British military says
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Three tankers were struck by projectiles Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz, the British military said, in the latest attacks targeting vessels moving through the fuel-shipping waterway that is central to negotiations seeking a permanent end to the war between the U.S. and Iran.
The new assaults were the most in a single day since late April, according to U.N. International Maritime Organization figures. The fresh attacks threatened to choke off the flow of traffic in the strait just as countries hoped to restore normal shipping practices and ease the global economic strain of the war.
One tanker was traveling off the coast of Oman when it was hit and caught fire, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault.
The other two ships sustained some damage, but no one was injured, and both continued on their way, the U.K. maritime agency said.
Tehran, which has repeatedly declared that only its approved route through the strait is safe, is suspected of attacking other ships that have used another route close to the Omani shore.
Location details provided by the U.K. agency show all three attacks occurred off the coast of Oman or the neighboring United Arab Emirates, making it likely that the ships were using the route near Oman.
U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Tuesday's attacks.
The U.S. is eager to press ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed at fully reopening the strait, rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program and reaching a permanent end to the war launched Feb. 28. An interim deal has been strained.
Previous attacks in the strait have sparked retaliatory strikes by the U.S. Iran then attacked Gulf Arab states.
In peacetime, a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the channel.
Meanwhile, talks between Iran and the U.S. appeared to be on hold until after the burial of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the beginning of the war. Mourners at his funeral have called for the death of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Authorities flew Khamenei's body to the Shiite seminary city of Qom, where mourners honored him Tuesday.
One tanker was carrying liquid natural gas south through the strait near Limah, Oman, when a projectile hit the left-side engine room and sparked a fire, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center said.
Iranian state TV, quoting anonymous sources, implied that Tehran carried out the assault on a tanker it said was carrying natural gas from Qatar. However, there was no official claim from the Islamic Republic for the attack.
Majed Al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, said the Qatari tanker Al Rekayyat was targeted in an “unacceptable attack” on international navigation and global energy security. He called it a “serious and explicit violation” of international law.
In a post on X, he said Qatar holds Iran “fully legally responsible” for the attack.
Later Tuesday, the U.K. maritime agency reported that an oil tanker was hit on its left side as it exited the strait near the Omani-Emirati border. A third tanker was struck by a drone off Oman, the agency said.
Iran’s joint military command warned last Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the strait must use its approved routes. It also said that interference by U.S. forces in the strait “will be met with a rapid and decisive reaction.”
But the Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational body overseen by the U.S. Navy, told shippers Monday that the route around Oman “has been expanded and remains available for all traffic.”
Ships going to the north on the Iranian route must register with Tehran. Those going south work with Oman and the U.S.
Speaking Monday at the White House, Trump warned Iran that it would need to “make a deal, or we're going to finish the job.”
“I'd rather make a deal, because I don’t want to affect 91 million people,” Trump said. “We can knock down their bridges in one hour. We can knock out their energy supply.”
Iran and the United States agreed as part of an interim deal to allow ships to pass without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran insisted it must control the vessels' routes and later charge fees for passage, which would upend decades of practice in the waterway.
The U.S. and many Gulf Arab states say they will not agree to Iran charging for passage through the strait. An effort by Oman and the U.N. to launch a new route near Oman’s shore earlier sparked attacks across the Mideast.
The data firm Kpler reported that over last weekend at least 108 ships crossed through the strait using various routes.
Iranian state television aired live images Tuesday of hundreds of thousands of people walking toward Jamkaran Mosque, just south of Qom, for a funeral service for Khamenei. Shiites believe the mosque once hosted Muhammad al-Mahdi, the 12th and last Shiite imam, who disappeared in the 9th century and is supposed to one day reappear to bring justice to the world.
Images of Khamenei and his son, Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, were displayed on banners and posters held by mourners. Mojtaba Khamenei has yet to make an appearance at the funeral ceremonies, which are unfolding over several days. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father.
Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which began Saturday. Khamenei’s body will be taken next to Iraq, where processions are planned for Wednesday in Najaf and Karbala, the two holy cities of Iraqi Shiism. Iraq has a sizable Shiite population and is home to major Shiite religious sites and centers of learning.
Khamenei, who was 86, will then be returned to Iran to be buried Thursday at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.
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