A person was killed, and three others were injured after an Iranian commercial ship was struck off Qeshm Island near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday (September 13), local Iranian authorities said, as Tehran and Washington clash over the strategic waterway.
“A merchant vessel was struck around 5:00 am (0130 GMT) this morning off the coasts of Hengam and Qeshm islands. One person was killed, and three others were injured,” Qeshm city governor Amir Teymouri said, according to state TV, without specifying the origin of the strike.
Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a vessel was hit by a projectile while transiting the strait, but provided no further details about the incident.
There was no immediate statement from the US military. The incident comes amid continued US military operations targeting Iranian-flagged vessels as part of its blockade of Iranian ports.
Explosions around Qeshm
Several explosions were reported overnight around Qeshm, the largest island in the Strait of Hormuz, as tensions continue to escalate over the strategically vital waterway.
The deadly incident comes a day before Iran is due to hold talks with Gulf states in Oman, which also borders the strait, over the future of the route that is crucial to global oil and gas shipments.
Control of the Strait of Hormuz has emerged as a major flashpoint in the six-month conflict between Iran and the United States. In retaliation for attacks by the United States and Israel that started the war on February 28, Iran has blocked the waterway, a passage that was previously free and unobstructed before the conflict began.
Iran now requires vessels to obtain authorisation to pass through the strait, citing security and sovereignty concerns, and is considering a mechanism to impose service fees. Vessels that fail to comply are frequently targeted by Iranian strikes, while the United States sporadically bombs the Iranian coast in a bid to challenge Tehran’s control of the strait.
Trump again claims Iran war nearing end
Earlier, US President Donald Trump again said the war in Iran is nearing its end, claiming the conflict would be over soon after the November US midterm elections and predicted that oil prices would fall sharply after that. Speaking to reporters during a trip to Ireland on Saturday, Trump said he expected the war to end “very soon”, suggesting it could happen “right after the midterms”.
He added that oil prices would “come tumbling down” once the fighting ends in the Middle East. This is the second time in a week the US President has spoken about the conclusion of the war.
Speaking to reporters in Dallas on September 10, Trump claimed Iran was attempting to influence American voters by holding out for a more lenient administration in Washington. “I think the war will end immediately after the election. They are desperate to try and affect the election so that we could get a nice, weak group of people in there and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon,” Trump had said.
(With AP, AFP inputs)
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