Another day, another attack near one of the world's most strategically critical waterways. A cargo ship travelling northbound near theStrait of Hormuzwas hit by multiple small craft on Sunday, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center confirmed, adding another entry to a growing list of incidents that has now reached at least two dozen since the war with Iran began.
The attack took place off the coast of Sirik, Iran, east of the strait itself. The vessel, which has not been publicly identified, was targeted by several small boats. All crew members were reported safe following the incident. No group or government immediately claimed responsibility.
The last reported attack in the area before Sunday came on April 22, when a separate cargo ship reported being fired upon. The threat level across the region remains classified as critical.
The vessels being used in these attacks are not easy targets for conventional naval defenses. Iranian patrol boats, including some running on nothing more than twin outboard motors, are compact, fast and hard to detect on radar. That combination makes them effective tools for harassment and assault in the narrow, crowded waters around the strait.
President Trump addressed the threat directly last month, ordering US military forces to shoot and kill small Iranian boats that attempt to deploy mines in the waterway.
Iranian officials have been blunt about their intentions in the region. Tehran has asserted that it controls the Strait of Hormuz and that ships unaffiliated with the United States or Israel are free to pass through, provided they pay a toll. In practice, Iran effectively shut the strait down by attacking and threatening vessels, rattling global energy markets that depend on the waterway for the movement of oil and gas.
A three-week ceasefire between the US and Iran is technically still in place, and by most accounts it is holding, at least for now. But the mood around it remains tense. Trump told journalists on Saturday that further strikes remained a possibility, a comment that did little to ease concerns about where things are headed. Sunday's attack near the strait is unlikely to help either.
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