Fire and fear rippled through one of the world’s most vital shipping chokepoints on Saturday morning after the US military said it launched a fresh round of strikes against Iran, citing an attack by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces on a container ship moving through the Strait of Hormuz.
The crew of the container ship abandoned their vessel after military authorities reported it had sustained damage to its rear near Oman, causing a fire onboard, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said.
The UKMTO earlier said it had received a report of an incident 16.7 km east of Oman.
In an updated advisory, the agency said it had been informed by military authorities and the vessel’s security officer that the crew had abandoned the vessel and were currently in a lifeboat, adding that authorities were continuing to investigate.
It added that the strikes were carried out at the direction of the US President Donald Trump.
Iran said the container ship had used ‘an unapproved route’
Iran, for its part, said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz after a vessel travelled on an unapproved route and was struck, and it warned that any retaliation over the incident would draw a “severe response.”
“A vessel that had jeopardized maritime security by switching off its systems was struck and brought to a halt,” the Navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement, without giving any details about the ship.
According to the statement, several ships attempted to pass through the narrow waterway on an “unauthorised route” and ignored warnings to change course.
The IRGC Navy said the strait was closed “until further notice” and would remain so until “the end of US interference in this region.”
Any acts of aggression against Iran “will be met with a severe response, and new enemy bases in the region will be targeted,” it said.
Senior US officials told reporters on Friday that Washington was demanding Iran publicly commit to halting attacks on ships in the strait — and that all lanes would remain open with no tolls through the waterway.
Trump said on Friday that the US and Iran had agreed to keep talking despite a sharp escalation of hostilities this week, while also declaring an end to the ceasefire.
Huge crowds gathered in Mashhad for the burial of Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
A senior Iranian source told Reuters that Iran, the US, Qatar and Pakistan had agreed to negotiate in a call that mediators were trying to arrange for Saturday while Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was in Oman.
It was not immediately clear whether the efforts were successful.
Araqchi met Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi in Oman to exchange “views on appropriate mechanisms for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” according to a statement from the Iranian foreign minister.
Oman’s state news agency later said Omani and Iranian negotiators would continue talks “at the technical and political levels”.
Oman has been working to mediate an end to a war that has destabilised the Gulf and sent prices higher around the world since the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on 28 February.
Before the war, about a fifth of the world’s oil supply moved through the Strait of Hormuz — and Iran’s effective blockade has driven energy prices upward, stoking global inflation.
CNN reported yesterday that Oman had circulated a draft proposal for the strait that would allow free navigation through its southern corridor in Omani territorial waters. Under the plan, CNN said, vessels using the northern corridor through Iranian territorial waters would need prior approval from Iran, though no tolls would be charged.
The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the CNN report.
Qatari mediators held talks in Tehran on Friday
Earlier in the week, three Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers came under fire, triggering US strikes on Iranian sites and prompting Iran to respond with strikes on US military sites in Gulf states.
Araqchi accused the United States of violating the ceasefire agreement; the US revoked the license authorizing the sale of Iranian crude on Tuesday after the vessels were hit.
“There can only be mutual compliance,” Araqchi wrote on X on Friday.
Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, though analysts say Tehran uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations.
The latest flare-up deepened uncertainty about the future of an interim agreement meant to end the conflict and pushed oil prices higher — a politically sensitive issue for Trump ahead of November congressional elections.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Friday.
Iran threatens to avenge supreme leader’s killing
A written statement from Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, yesterday threatened vengeance for the death of his predecessor and father, who was killed on 28 February.
Issued to coincide with funeral ceremonies for former leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday — which the new leader did not attend — the message said vengeance would be carried out whatever happened to Iran.
At the Khamenei funeral ceremonies some mourners called for the death of US President Donald Trump
“We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs,” the message said.
Trump posted on Friday that he had ordered the US military to be ready to launch thousands of missiles against Iran if Tehran tried to assassinate him.
The Wall Street Journal and other US media reported this week that Israel had shared intelligence with Washington that Iran had recently devised a plan to assassinate Trump.
At Thursday’s funeral ceremonies, a huge crowd filled a courtyard, with some mourners holding banners reading, “We Will Kill Trump.”
