Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired at least two missiles toward commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday evening, according to US officials cited by Axios. Two ships sustained significant damage, though no casualties were reported.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations authority said a fire broke out aboard a tanker after it was struck by an unidentified projectile on its port side while sailing south, approximately 15 kilometres east of Lima in Oman. No casualties or environmental damage were reported.
The Wall Street Journal, citing a recording it obtained, identified one of the targeted vessels as what appeared to be the LNG tanker Al Raqiyyah, owned and operated by Nakilat, Qatar’s LNG shipping arm. According to a recording obtained by the Journal, crew on the vessel reported: “Fire in the engine room and it is full of smoke. Unable to assess if there is further damage. All crew are safe and mustered on the starboard side of the vessel.” The ship was near the entrance to the strait in the Gulf of Oman when it came under attack.
The incident comes after indirect talks between the United States and Iran broke down last week with no public sign of progress toward a permanent ceasefire. A 60-day truce has been in place to allow diplomatic space following US and Israeli strikes that triggered the current conflict. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the US would either reach an agreement with Iran or “finish the job,” repeating an earlier military threat as Tehran signalled defiance in the days following the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Journal also reported that the Revolutionary Guard had warned ships over maritime radio frequencies earlier this week, saying: “Our missiles and drones are ready to be fired at you.”
Investors are watching Strait of Hormuz shipping conditions closely, alongside the recovery of Gulf oil exports, as diplomatic signals from the US-Iran talks remain unclear.
