An Iranian cargo vessel was struck early Sunday off Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, killing one crew member and wounding four, a day before Iran is due to brief regional governments in Oman on its management of shipping through the waterway.
IRNA quoted the Qeshm governor blaming a "terrorist enemy," and said the man killed was one of the vessel's ten crew members and that the projectile had not been identified. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations monitor separately reported a vessel hit by a projectile in transit through the strait, with a fire breaking out and local authorities evacuating those aboard. Roughly 20 million barrels of oil passed through Hormuz daily before the war; traffic is now about 90 percent below pre-conflict levels.
The strike follows the loss of Saudi Arabia's main alternative export route. Iraq's government said Saturday that the drone attacks on the kingdom's East-West Pipeline had been launched from Iraqi territory, and Iraq closed two border crossings with Iran, halting passenger and commercial traffic until further notice. Baghdad pledged an investigation and dismissed two senior officials, while an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militias denied involvement. Saudi Arabia shut the pipeline as a precautionary measure and said it would not retaliate, in order to give Iraq an opportunity to act. Asked about the attack during a visit to Dublin, President Donald Trump said Iran was probably behind it. Crude passed $100 a barrel this week.
Monday's talks in Muscat have already lost a participant. Bahrain said it would not attend until diplomatic relations with Tehran are restored, citing this week's pipeline attack and the targeting of an ammonia tank in Bahrain that it said nearly caused a widespread catastrophe, and arguing that regional security cannot be built by remaining silent about such attacks or through a policy of appeasement. Manama called for the strait to be open without discrimination, fees or permits, and said any arrangement should rest on the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and be endorsed by the International Maritime Organization. Tehran has been pushing to formalise its control of the waterway, including charging passage fees, a demand Oman opposes.
