US, Iran exchange fire in Strait of Hormuz
The United Arab Emirates said it responded to another Iranian missile barrage on Friday, hours after the US said it traded fire with Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz, in the latest blows to a shaky month-old ceasefire.
The UAE’s Defence Ministry said three people were wounded after air defences “engaged” two ballistic missiles and three drones launched by Iran. It was not clear if all were successfully intercepted. Authorities told people to stay away from any fallen debris.
The US said it thwarted attacks on three Navy ships and struck Iranian military facilities in the strait. Iran has mostly blocked the critical waterway for global energy since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on February 28, causing a global spike in fuel prices and rattling world markets.
US President Donald Trump played down the exchange of fire on Thursday, calling the US strikes a “love tap” in a phone call with ABC. But he reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran doesn’t accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear programme.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the US strikes were a “clear violation” of the ceasefire. Tehran had previously said it was examining the latest US proposals for ending the war delivered via Pakistan, which is mediating.
The US military said it had intercepted Iranian attacks on three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz late Thursday and “targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking US forces”.
The US military said none of its ships were hit.
Iranian state media said the country’s forces exchanged fire with “the enemy” on Qeshm Island in the strait. It also reported loud noises and continuous defensive fire in western Tehran late Thursday.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning what it called “hostile” US military action against two Iranian oil tankers near the Iranian port of Jask and the strait, as well as strikes on nearby coastal areas.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country has been in contact with the US and Iran “day and night” in an effort to extend the ceasefire and reach a peace deal.
Meanwhile, direct talks between Israel and Lebanon were scheduled to resume next week in Washington, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans for the closed-door meetings. The official said talks will be held May 14 and 15.
A nominal ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group has also been repeatedly challenged, including by ongoing fighting in southern Lebanon.
A Chinese-crewed oil tanker was attacked near the strait, in the first such targeting of a vessel affiliated with the country, which has continued to import oil from Iran despite the effective closure of the strait.
China’s Foreign Ministry expressed concern, saying the tanker was registered in the Marshall Islands with Chinese crew on board. There were no casualties reported.
On Thursday, Lloyd’s List Intelligence, a shipping data company, reported that Iran has created a Government agency to vet and tax vessels seeking passage through the strait.
The Iranian effort to formalise control over the channel raised new concerns about international shipping, with hundreds of commercial vessels bottled up in the Persian Gulf and unable to reach the open sea.
The agency, called the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, is “positioning itself as the only valid authority to grant permission to ships transiting the strait”, Lloyd’s said.
On Friday, an oil tanker that passed through the Strait of Hormuz in mid-April arrived off South Korea’s coast with 1 million barrels of crude. South Korea, which last year imported more than 60 per cent of its crude through the strait, has capped prices of gasoline and other petroleum products.
Iran has effectively closed the strait, a vital waterway for the shipment of oil, gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products, while the US is blockading Iranian ports.
Maritime law experts say Iran’s demands to vet or tax vessels violate international law. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea calls for countries to permit peaceful passage through their territorial waters. The US has threatened to impose sanctions on companies that pay tolls to Iran.
The US and its Gulf allies are pushing for the UN Security Council to support a resolution that condemns Iran’s chokehold on the strait and threatens sanctions. A prior resolution calling for reopening the strait was vetoed by Iran’s allies Russia and China.
