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US President Donald Trump on Friday accused Iran of carrying out a drone strike on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, calling it a “senseless violation” of the ceasefire agreement with the United States.
One of the four drones that shot down the ship damaged its surface during Thursday’s attack, but the ship was able to continue, Trump said. The US shot down other drones, he said.
“We took down three. One of them, I think – we didn’t miss it. Nobody saw it coming,” Trump said.
Trump did not say whether the US would respond to the attack.
With US President Donald Trump’s approval ratings faltering and the mid-term elections less than five months away, Thomas Schwartz, a professor of political science and history at Vanderbilt University, breaks down the political costs of the US-Iran war to Trump and how peace talks in Switzerland could turn the tide in his favor.
The British navy said Thursday that a container ship was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman, hours after Iran threatened to stop the ships from using the route. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said no injuries were reported.
The attack comes at a vulnerable time for the US and Iran as they work to negotiate an end to the war. Iran has challenged regional power and the US over control of the Strait of Hormuz, despite an interim agreement reached with Washington last week.
The attack on the cargo ship came as the United Nations began an operation this week to evacuate stranded ships using an alternative route closer to the coast of Oman than the central route.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he had a long conversation with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday about issues including NATO, Iran and the ‘broader Middle East.’ When asked by a reporter about the US admitting Canada is hitting its NATO spending targets, Carney said ‘Canada is pulling its weight now.’
The International Maritime Organization has suspended the transportation of people after the attack and said on Friday that they will not continue until there are assurances that other ships will not be attacked.
About 115 ships managed to get out of the disaster in recent days, leaving about 500 in the area, said Arsenio Dominguez, the organization’s secretary-general.
The opening of the alternative road was expected to reduce pressure on the country’s economy and remove Iran’s main source of profit from the ongoing peace talks with the US.
The US and Iran are still negotiating the terms of the deal, including issues such as getting ships off the main road and dealing with the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Under the interim agreement, both sides have 60 days to come up with details.
An attack on a cargo ship results in an inspection of the ship
Shipping analysts say the drone strike has cast a shadow over what has been a growing number of stranded vessels finally leaving the Gulf and an increase in the flow of crude oil tankers.
“A week of growing commercial confidence in the Strait of Hormuz has reached its first important test,” said maritime data company Windward on X. It said that although the current remained open with 43 shipping lanes recorded after the incident, “the pace of normalization has slowed.”
On the Wednesday before Thursday’s strike, 78 ships passed through the port, the highest since the start of the war, though below the pre-war average of 130 or more a day.
At least two tankers derailed as they tried to pass through a UN-backed route near Oman after Iran insisted ships use only routes approved by Tehran, according to maritime data and analyst firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
More than a dozen ships were still transiting the southern route after the attack, Lloyd’s said on Friday.
Lebanon and Israel take a step towards peace
Ambassadors from Israel and Lebanon announced the deal on Friday described as a peace step following months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.
Nada Hamadeh, Lebanon’s ambassador to the US, called the draft “allowing our people to return to their country and allowing all Lebanese to live in peace, security and prosperity.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that this program is a great success for Israel.
“The most important thing, first and foremost, is that Israel will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon,” he said, adding that they will remain until Hezbollah is disarmed and is no longer a threat to Israel.
Missile warning scares Dubai
A missile alert in the United Arab Emirates caused by a technical problem on Friday underscored the ongoing tension in the region and alarmed many in the Dubai region.
Shortly after the warning, the Emiratis said there was a phone call between Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. It quoted Sheikh Abdullah as telling Araghchi that the UAE “stressed the importance of full commitment” to the interim agreement between Iran and the US.
“Deep dialogue and responsible negotiations are the right way to deal with all regional and international problems,” he said.
