3 tankers hit in latest skirmishes in Strait of Hormuz
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 narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
The new assaults 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 between the US and Iran.
One of the tankers was travelling off the coast of Oman and caught fire, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault. Two other tankers were also hit, including one that was struck by a drone. It was not immediately clear where they were at the time of the attacks.
Both of those ships sustained some damage, but no one was injured, the maritime agency said. At least one of the vessels continued on its way, the 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.
The US 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 on February 28.
Previous attacks in the strait have sparked retaliatory strikes by the US. 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 US 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 US President Donald Trump.
Authorities flew Khamenei's body to the Shiite seminary city of Qom, where mourners honoured him on Tuesday. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said the tanker was hit near Limah, Oman, in the strait. The UKMTO said the projectile hit the port side of the vessel as it tried to travel south out of the strait toward the Gulf of Oman.
The agency said there were no environmental effects from the strike and that authorities were investigating. 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 targeting the Qatari tanker, Al Rekayyat, in the strait was an “unacceptable attack” on international navigation and global energy security.
