Hormuz Ship Incident
Projectile Strikes Cargo Ship in Hormuz Strait Amid U.S.-Iran Talks, Raising Regional Tensions.
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Key Points
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The UKMTO reported the incident occurred 7.5 nautical miles southeast of Dahit, Oman (Musandam exclave) at 1410 GMT, with the cargo vessel hit on the starboard side and damage to the bridge; there were no casualties or environmental impact and authorities are investigating.
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The vessel was traversing a United Nations–promoted routing along the Oman coast designed to relieve pressure on the Strait of Hormuz, with U.S. officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledging that Washington will keep ships moving through the strait; Rubio warned that disruption would be problematic.
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Oil markets briefly dipped below the prewar price of just under $73 per barrel before stabilizing as traders weighed potential disruption to energy flows.
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Lebanon-related clashes between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah continued to threaten the wider truce, with reports that fatalities have occurred in Israeli strikes in recent days.
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Oil tankers were moving through the Strait under the new UN-promoted route, with the Stoic Warrior leading activity as more ships passed through the strait along the UAE–Oman coast, though volumes remain well below prewar levels.
A cargo ship was struck by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on June 25, while sailing a United Nations-approved route along the Omani coast, UKMTO reported. The strike hit the Singapore-flagged Ever Lovely on its starboard side, damaging the bridge 7.5 nautical miles southeast of Dahit, Oman. No crew members were hurt and no fuel spilled into the sea.
The attack is a direct blow to a fragile peace effort. Just eight days earlier, the U.S. and Iran signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, opening a 60-day window to finalize a permanent peace deal. The strike has already forced the International Maritime Organization to pause its shipping evacuation program, leaving over 100 vessels and 11,000 sailors stranded inside the Persian Gulf.
Iran Targets UN-Approved Shipping Corridor Along Oman Coast
The Ever Lovely was using a new coastal route set up by the UN's International Maritime Organization and Oman. The route hugs the Musandam Peninsula — an Omani exclave jutting into the strait — to avoid sea mines and Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels controlling the central lane. The Liberian-flagged tanker Stoic Warrior had led the first convoy through this corridor just eight hours before the attack, Daily Breeze reported.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy quickly rejected the route as "unacceptable" and "illegal," saying the only authorized transit lanes are "those designated by the Islamic Republic of Iran," Al Jazeera reported. Iranian state media framed the strike not as an attack but as enforcement of sovereignty against vessels "violating Iranian-administered waters." IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez responded by pausing the evacuation plan, saying he needed "to reconfirm that necessary safety guarantees continue to be in place."
Diplomacy Under Fire as 60-Day Peace Window Shrinks
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Abu Dhabi on June 23, just two days before the strike. He warned that no country can charge "tolls or fees" on an international waterway. "That's the way we expect it'll be here," he told reporters, Times of Israel noted. Analysts say Iran's strike is a pressure tactic — a way to force the U.S. to accept Iranian transit fees as part of the final peace deal.
The Islamabad MoU, signed June 17 at Versailles by President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, includes a proposed $300 billion regional reconstruction plan. But the deal left key disputes — nuclear access, missile limits, and transit fees — unresolved inside that 60-day window. Trump warned earlier this month that if Iran broke the MoU, the U.S. would likely "go back to bombing the country again," The Straits Times reported.
Oil Prices Spike as Shipping Volumes Stay Far Below Normal
Brent crude oil briefly fell to $72.00 per barrel earlier Thursday — close to the pre-war level of just under $73 — before the attack news pushed prices up 2.5% to $75.72, Investing.com reported. Markets had been cautiously hopeful that the new coastal route would ease energy flows. The Strait of Hormuz normally carries about 20% of the world's oil.
Shipping volumes through the strait remain thin. Only 13 ships passed on June 23, rising to 32 on June 24. Just 12 had cleared the strait before the Ever Lovely was struck on June 25, bringing the total to 57 vessels since the corridor opened, Gulf News reported. That is far below the hundreds of ships that used the route before the conflict began in February.
Regional Ceasefires Fray as Lebanon Clashes Flare Again
The Hormuz strike is not the only threat to the wider peace. Israeli airstrikes killed two people in southern Lebanon on June 24, marking the first breach of the regional ceasefire since the weekend, Associated Press reported. Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group in Lebanon, has been a key piece of Iran's network of regional allies throughout the conflict.
Together, the Lebanon clashes and the Hormuz attack paint a picture of a ceasefire fraying at its edges. With 11,000 sailors stranded, oil markets on edge, and the 60-day peace clock ticking, the next move from Washington and Tehran will determine whether the Islamabad framework holds or collapses entirely.
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