The mayday call went out Monday, at 9:19 p.m. UTC, 1:19 a.m. by Gulf clocks, from a Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker in Omani waters. The crew of the al-Rakiyat told the UK Maritime Trade Operations center: “We’re being hit by a drone top of port side near engine room.” By the US account, Iran fired on three commercial vessels that day near the Strait of Hormuz, the third strike not previously reported, and a US official described the attacks as a gross violation of the memorandum of understanding signed with Tehran. It was the first Qatari ship hit since the war began on February 28.
The record, as far as it goes, is spare. The UKMTO put the al-Rakiyat eight nautical miles off Limah, in Oman, port side ablaze, and said no casualties or environmental impact were reported. A Saudi crude carrier, the Wedyan, was struck 16 nautical miles from Khor Fakkan, a port in the Emirates, and the Saudi foreign ministry said Iran bears full responsibility. By Tuesday night the US military had answered, announcing what it called powerful strikes against Iran and accusing Tehran, in a Central Command statement, of a clear violation of the ceasefire designed to impose heavy costs for attacking commercial shipping.
Qatar, which has acted as mediator between Washington and Tehran, responded with the sharpest language of the crisis so far. Its foreign ministry condemned the attack as a “grave and explicit violation of international law” and summoned the Iranian deputy ambassador with a protest note that went further: “We hold (Iran) fully legally responsible for this attack and any resulting damage or repercussions,” the ministry said, calling the strike “a direct threat to the security of global energy supplies.” Reports circulated that the tanker’s crew had abandoned the vessel; the accounts indicate no confirmed casualties among any of the crews.
Saudi Arabia matched the tone. “The kingdom stresses its demand that Iran immediately stop all actions that threaten the security of the region and the safety of international navigation and energy supplies,” its foreign ministry said on Tuesday, holding Iran fully responsible for the attacks, their damage and all their repercussions.
Tehran’s answer, delivered at a foreign ministry briefing, is where this crisis diverges from the familiar script. Iran blamed the United States, arguing that American efforts to open new routes through the strait breached the memorandum, which Tehran says leaves the waterway’s reopening to it, alongside Oman, with traffic meant to return to prewar levels within 30 days. At issue is a corridor close to the Omani coast that Iran opposes because it wants to charge ships for transit. “Securing the strait for navigation for safe passage is itself a service,” the ministry spokesperson said. “So from now on we’re going to ask for necessary costs when we provide related services, including securing the safe passage,” the spokesperson said. Officials also rejected an Omani proposal for a strait authority modeled on the Malacca and Singapore arrangement, and waved off French and British offers to help clear the southern route.
What that means in practice is a toll backed by fire, an arrangement close to a protection scheme, and maritime insurers will read it that way. The UKMTO’s own assessment holds that “Iranian intent and capability to conduct intentional hostile action remain” even as risk stays below the pre-MOU period. One hundred and eight boats made the crossing between Friday and Sunday, MarineTraffic reported, against more than 100 vessels a day before the war; the waterway that carried around a fifth of the world’s crude is flowing, thinly, through a dispute now armed on both sides.
The timing was its own message. The strikes landed hours before President Donald Trump departed for a NATO summit in Ankara, where strait security tops the agenda, and as Iran observed a multi-day funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in an airstrike on February 28, first day of the war. On Monday Trump said the US would either reach a deal or finish the job. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi answered Tuesday that negotiations on a final deal will not commence if threats continue. Between those positions sits the strait, and the crews still sailing it.
Sources
- Iran strikes three vessels near Strait of Hormuz as Trump arrives at NATO summit | CNN
- US launches strikes against Iran after attacks on vessels in strait of Hormuz | US-Israel war on Iran | The Guardian
