DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz said it was attacked by multiple small craft, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported on Sunday, the latest in at least two dozen attacks in and around the strait since the Iran war began.
Meanwhile, Tehran said it was reviewing the U.S. response to its latest proposal on ending the war but made clear these were not nuclear negotiations.
All crew on the unidentified northbound cargo ship were safe after the attack off Sirik, Iran, east of the strait, the British monitor said. Iranian officials have asserted that they control the strait and that ships not affiliated with the United States or Israel can pass if they pay a toll, challenging the freedom of navigation guaranteed by international law.
Iran denied an attack, the semiofficial Iranian outlets Fars and Tabnak reported, and said a passing ship had been stopped for a documents check as part of monitoring.
The monitor said it was the first reported attack in the area since April 22. Tehran has effectively closed the strait by attacking and threatening ships, and the threat level in the area remains critical.
Iranian patrol boats, some powered only by twin outboard motors, are small, nimble and hard to detect. U.S. President Donald Trump last month ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines in the strait.
The fragile three-week ceasefire appears to be holding, though Trump on Saturday told journalists that further strikes remained a possibility.
Iran reviews US response to its latest proposal
Tehran is reviewing the U.S. response to its latest proposal, Iran’s judiciary Mizan news agency cited Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei as saying.
But “at this stage, we have no nuclear negotiations,” Baghaei said. Iran’s nuclear program and enriched uranium have long been the central issue in tensions with the U.S., but Tehran would rather address it later.
Source: WPLG
