Cairo: An Iranian commercial vessel was struck early Sunday off Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, with one person killed and four wounded, Iranian state media said, a day before Tehran seeks to brief regional countries on its contested efforts to manage shipping traffic there.
State-run IRNA news agency quoted the Qeshm governor as blaming a terrorist enemy. He also said the person killed was among the cargo vessel’s 10-member crew, and that authorities had not yet identified the projectile.
Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations monitor reported a vessel was hit by a projectile while transiting the strait, with no details.
There was no immediate statement by the US military, which previously has struck Iranian-flagged vessels as it keeps up a blockade of Iranian ports – while facing a new threat in recent days from Iranian ballistic missiles launched at its warships.
Qeshm Island, located about 22 kilometres from the port city of Bandar Abbas, is key to Iran asserting control over traffic through the strait.
Sunday’s strike came as tensions continue around the waterway that was seen as an international one before the US and Israel launched the war February 28.
Global prices of oil, natural gas and related products have been sent higher, and now Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen are pressuring a key shipping alternative, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea. While the Houthis say they are targeting only neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government, markets are wary.
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Iran Saturday that foreign ministers from regional countries will meet to discuss efforts by Iran and Oman, located on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz, to manage shipping on it. Already, however, Bahrain has said it will not attend, and it was not clear what other nations would be there.
Iran has said reaching an agreement with Oman on the strait doesn’t mean it will open for shipping. The waterway would be opened up on the condition that the US will terminate its blockade, Iran’s president told broadcaster India Today TV Saturday.
Commercial ship traffic remains low on the strait as attacks continue. Iran has expressed interest in having ships pay fees for transit. It has also said traffic into the Persian Gulf would pass through Iranian waters, while the outbound route would pass partly through Iranian waters and partly through Oman’s.
