Commercial vessels were hit by missiles near the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday as stalled negotiations between Iran and the United States over security in the strategic waterway came under renewed strain, with Tehran and Washington offering different accounts of the attacks.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) later listed three tanker attacks near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, including an LNG tanker hit by an unknown projectile eight nautical miles east of Limah, Oman, causing a fire in its port-side engine room.
The advisory also listed a VLCC hit east of Khor Fakkan, UAE, with no crew injuries reported, and a third tanker struck east of Oman’s Musandam Peninsula, sustaining minor structural damage with no casualties or environmental impact reported.
Maritime security sources said a Saudi-flagged crude oil tanker was among the vessels damaged close to the coast of Oman on Tuesday and was believed to be the Wedyan supertanker.
US officials told Axios and The Wall Street Journal that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps fired missiles at two commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Both vessels, the officials said, sustained significant damage but there were no reported casualties.
Iranian state television offered a different account, reporting that one tanker had ignored repeated warnings while using a maritime route near the Omani coast backed by the United States. The tanker, it said, was struck after failing to heed those warnings.
One of the targeted vessels appeared to be Al Rekayyat, a liquefied natural gas tanker linked to Qatar's LNG industry, according to The Wall Street Journal. Marine radio recordings cited by the newspaper indicated the ship suffered a fire near its engine room but that all crew members were safe.
Talks lose momentum
The attacks came less than three weeks after Tehran and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding under which Iran agreed to halt attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz during negotiations over a broader agreement. A separate one-week arrangement aimed at preventing attacks in the waterway has since expired.
Indirect talks in Doha last week ended without significant progress on maritime security, according to US officials.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday that negotiations on a final agreement would not begin while threats against Iran continued, urging Washington to "honor your signature" under the memorandum of understanding.
Separately, senior Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi said legislation to formalize Iran's management of the Strait of Hormuz would be introduced in parliament, adding that any arrangement concerning the waterway without coordination with Tehran was "doomed to fail."
The reported attacks unfolded during the fifth day of funeral ceremonies for former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, showing the fragility of efforts to stabilize one of the world's busiest energy shipping corridors.
