Strait of Hormuz shuts again as Iran warning shot hits vessel

Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again after its forces struck a vessel with a warning shot. The move triggered fresh US strikes, deepened ceasefire strains and renewed risks to global shipping.

In Short

• A Cyprus-flagged container ship suffered engine room damage after Iran's strike
• One crew member went missing after explosions were reported near Bandar Abbas
• Oman and Iran agreed to continue technical and political talks

Iran said the Strait of Hormuz was closed again after a warning shot fired by its military struck a vessel using what it called an unauthorised route in the key waterway, further straining the already fragile ceasefire with the United States.

A short while later, US Central Command said American forces had begun a third round of strikes against Iran. Iran's state media reported explosions in Bandar Abbas and Sirik, two towns along the shores of the strait. US Central Command also said a Cyprus-flagged container ship had been hit by Iran, suffered "significant engine room damage", and that one civilian crew member was missing.

The American military said, "The United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran's ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait." Senior US officials had earlier said in Washington that talks to strengthen last month's deal to end the war could not move forward unless the strait was secure, and said they wanted Iran to make public statements to that effect.

Instead, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps said multiple vessels "disregarded our warnings and instructions to correct their course and proceed along the approved route" and that one of them "was struck by a warning shot and brought to a stop". Iran said the strait would remain closed "until further notice" and said it would consider targeting "additional enemy bases in the region" if it faced more attacks. A little over an hour later, the US announced a fresh round of strikes, with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth posting on social media: "Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay."

The latest exchange came after the foreign ministers of Iran and Oman met on Saturday to discuss the strait, following days of Iranian attacks on ships and US retaliation that hit the interim deal to end the war. Oman said it and Iran had agreed to continue talks on the Strait of Hormuz "at the technical and political levels".

Iran's new supreme leader, still unseen since the war began, also said in his first statement since the funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that Iranians would avenge his killing in the war's opening strikes on February 28. "Such revenge is the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out," Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement carried by state television, hours after President Donald Trump threatened more missile attacks.

Before the new round of strikes, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he had met his Omani counterpart to discuss "appropriate mechanisms for ensuring the safe passage of ships". For decades, the world has regarded the strait as an international waterway. Iran has insisted that it should remain under its control and that it should be allowed to charge ships passing through it, a position it took after the war began. The US has urged mariners to take a southern route through Oman's territorial waters.

Before the war, about a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait. Iran's control over it during the war led to a global energy crisis, though oil prices have dropped sharply from wartime highs of USD 120 a barrel. Araghchi also accused Washington of violating the interim deal by ending waivers that allowed Iran to sell crude oil on the open market in US dollars, a move the US took in response to attacks on ships in the strait. "Reality check: There can only be mutual compliance," Araghchi wrote on social media.

Trump said he had personally been the target of an Iranian plot and that the US military would automatically retaliate if he was killed. He wrote on social media early Saturday that "1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat." He said he was responding to threats "to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate" him. During Khamenei's funeral, mourners held posters or banners calling for Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be killed. Trump has declared the ceasefire over, but said the US would continue negotiations.

US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the resumption of strikes even before the latest round had come because of what they described as a rogue faction of Iranian hard-liners trying to sabotage the ceasefire. Iran has said its theocracy is united under the new supreme leader. After the US completed strikes on Thursday, more attacks were reported in Iran, raising questions over who else might be targeting the country. Israel did not claim them, with the report saying Gulf Arab states may have carried them out to deter Iran from attacking them again. Iran on Thursday had retaliated for US strikes by targeting Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar. Over two days, the strikes in Iran before the latest exchanges killed at least 17 people and wounded 115 others, according to Iranian Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour. The latest developments left the Strait of Hormuz shut again, diplomacy under strain, and fresh military action under way on both sides.

With PTI Inputs

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