Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they struck a tanker trying to pass through what they described as an “illegal route” in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping corridor Tehran has sought to close since the Middle East war began.
The Guards said Iranian forces had “taken control of the administration of the strait”, according to a statement carried by Iran’s state news agency IRNA.
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“In carrying out this mission, a few hours ago, a giant LPG carrier named NV Sunshine, owned by NatWit, which was attempting to transit via the illegal route south of the Strait of Hormuz, was struck,” the statement said.
The claim came as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that peace talks could succeed only if they were conducted without “pressure and threats”.
International efforts to end the seven-month conflict, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February, have remained stalled since the summer.
Iranians walk past an anti-Trump billboard along a street in Tehran
Washington and Tehran reached a memorandum of understanding in June outlining a possible path to end the conflict. But Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz led to a renewed US military campaign.
More recent indirect discussions between the two countries, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, failed to deliver a breakthrough.
“Dialogue holds meaning and a chance of success only when based on mutual respect and mutual commitments, and when devoid of pressure and threat,” Mr Pezeshkian said at a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Turkmenistan.
“Negotiation conducted in the shadow of force is not negotiation, it is imposition and coercion,” he said, warning that sanctions on Iran would disrupt “regional trade, connectivity, energy, and order.”
Mr Pezeshkian said negotiations with the United States had produced no meaningful result and had instead been followed by further attacks.
“With an enemy that everyday resorts to assassination, sanctions, pressure and threats, and that breaks its commitments, negotiations are meaningless,” he said.
The US has reduced its military operations in recent weeks while increasing economic pressure, and has not carried out a strike on Iran since 1 September.
The United States and Israel have maintained that the war was needed to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, an objective Tehran has repeatedly denied pursuing.
Talks have since centred increasingly on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial Gulf waterway through which much of the region’s oil is transported and which has effectively been closed since the fighting began.
Putin, Pezeshkian meet
Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that he would “do everything” within his power to help bring the war to an end during a meeting with Mr Pezeshkian before the summit, Russian media reported.
“We are ready to do everything that is in our power to contribute to the settlement of this situation,” Mr Putin said.
He said Iran had made “real efforts to end the war” since the US-Israeli strikes began on 28 February, according to Russian news agencies.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian hold a meeting in Turkmenbashi
Mr Putin also described relations between Iran and Russia as having undergone a “positive evolution”.
Both countries face extensive Western sanctions and have expanded their diplomatic and military cooperation since Russia launched its offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, drawing them into a relationship of growing mutual dependence.
Ukraine and Western governments have accused Iran of providing Russia with Shahed drones and short-range missiles used in attacks on Ukraine.
US media outlets have also reported that Russia supplied Iran with data used in attacks on American targets in the Middle East.
“We are engaged in dialogue, but every time we negotiate with the United States, they attack again,” Mr Pezeshkian said during his talks with Mr Putin, according to Iranian state media.
Iran wanted negotiations to produce a “final framework” for ending the conflict, Mr Pezeshkian said.
He nevertheless accused the United States of “trying to impose its policies and views on all countries”.
“If the United States insists on pursuing a unilateral approach, a resolution will not be possible,” he said, according to state media.
US President Donald Trump told the United Nations General Assembly in September that he had faced a choice over whether to “annihilate” Iran if it refused to reach a deal.
Since then, however, the US president has ruled out another attack on Iran before the US midterm elections on 3 November, saying Washington was engaged in “productive discussions” with the Islamic republic.
The CIS was founded in 1991 as a forum for dialogue among the former republics of the Soviet Union.
Several members have since departed. Georgia withdrew after its 2008 war with Russia, Ukraine suspended its participation following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and Moldova left in 2023 as it pursued closer links with the European Union.
The summit is taking place as diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s offensive in Ukraine also appear to have reached an impasse, with both sides stepping up attacks.
