President Donald Trump has accused Iran of a “foolish violation” of last week’s ceasefire after Iranian forces struck a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, deepening doubts over an agreement intended to halt nearly four months of war and reopen one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
The strike, on Thursday, hit the Singapore-flagged Ever Lovely as it crossed the strait near the coast of Oman. The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre reported damage to the vessel’s bridge but no injuries, and the ship continued on its way. US Central Command attributed the attack to Iran.
Writing on his Truth Social platform on Friday, Mr Trump said Iranian forces had fired “at least four” attack drones at ships passing through the waterway. “One of the Drones solidly hit the upper deck of a large and very expensive Cargo Carrying Ship,” he wrote. “Damage was done, but the Ship was able to proceed on its way. We knocked down three other Drones.” He added: “Obviously, this is a foolish violation of our Ceasefire Agreement.”
The incident has laid bare how far Tehran and Washington remain apart on even the basic terms of their memorandum of understanding. According to CBS News, the two sides are still at odds over who controls the strait and how Iran will be permitted to spend its newly unfrozen funds. Roughly a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil passes through the channel, which makes any disruption there a matter of global concern.
Tensions were sharpened further by a meeting this week of the Gulf Cooperation Council — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. A statement issued afterwards condemned Iranian attacks on neighbouring states and affirmed the need for free passage through the strait. The United States was not named, but Tehran’s response left little doubt about the target.
“There is no doubt that Iran is more committed to the collective security of the region than any other party,” the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei, wrote on X. He warned that seeking protection from “the greatest violator of security” amounted to “a bitter paradox,” and insisted that Iran’s right to self-defence was “not open to discussion.” Iran has repeatedly fired missiles and drones at GCC members during the war.
Mr Rubio, for his part, has rejected Iranian demands to charge vessels for using the strait. “While we want a deal, we don’t want a deal at any price,” he told Gulf ministers in Bahrain, according to news agencies.
The disruption has had immediate consequences at sea. The head of the UN’s International Maritime Organization, Arsenio Dominguez, said on Friday that about 115 vessels and 2,500 sailors had been evacuated from the Persian Gulf via the strait since Tuesday. The agency had earlier suspended a wider operation to move some 600 ships and 11,000 seafarers after Thursday’s attack, and it remained unclear whether that effort had resumed.
Oil markets reacted nervously. Brent crude rose by as much as 4 per cent before easing back, with the international benchmark trading at around $74 a barrel, according to Al Jazeera and CNN.
Despite the renewed friction, diplomatic channels appear to be holding. Pakistani mediators have said direct talks between Washington and Tehran are likely to resume next week, and Qatar has confirmed that technical teams have begun working on the details of a broader peace settlement.
The conflict’s wider fault lines, however, remained visible. The leader of Hezbollah indicated on Friday that the Iranian-backed group would not disarm, and insisted that Israeli forces must “withdraw completely” from Lebanon.
There was, nonetheless, one sign of cooperation. Pakistan helped return 22 Iranian crew members from an oil tanker, the Lenore/Davina, that US forces had boarded on 5 June. The sailors were handed to Iranian diplomats in Karachi and were expected to travel home within days, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported. Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said his country had stayed “in close contact with the US and Iranian authorities throughout this process” and had helped repatriate more than 70 Iranians over the course of the war.
