Despite the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding a few days ago, the ceasefire in West Asia seems being violated. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps allegedly attacked a Singapore-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz with a drone on Thursday, US officials said. US President Donald Trump, on the other hand, told a White House dinner that Iran wants to reach a deal and the US holds all the cards. The incident has renewed the pressure on the fragile ceasefire agreement reached between Washington and Tehran last week.
What happened in the strait
US officials confirmed Iran’s IRGC struck the cargo ship Ever Lovely with a drone as it was exiting the strait. British naval agency UKMTO said the vessel reported being hit by a projectile near Oman. Four sources identified the ship to Reuters. Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority an agency Tehran set up to manage shipping requests through the waterway said vessels travelling outside its designated routes would not be guaranteed safe passage, adding that any consequences would be “the responsibility of the owner, operator, and vessel commander”.
The UN’s International Maritime Organization, which had launched a voluntary escort operation for stranded vessels only two days earlier, paused the programme following the attack. IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez said the pause was to confirm safety guarantees remained in place for ships on its evacuation list. The IMO noted the Ever Lovely was not part of its evacuation programme. Oil prices rose 2 per cent on news of the attack, Reuters reported.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards separately ordered two Panama-flagged ships to change course on Thursday, British maritime security firm Ambrey said.
Trump’s position
Speaking at a Rose Garden dinner with American farmers at the White House on Thursday evening, Trump said the US was negotiating with Iran from a position of strength following months of military strikes. “We knocked the hell out of them, and now we’re negotiating from a position of pure strength,” Trump told the gathering. “Pure strength. They know that.”
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Trump said Iran wanted to reach a deal “very badly” and insisted Tehran would not be permitted to develop a nuclear weapon. “They will not have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve agreed to that,” he said. He also said the Strait of Hormuz remained open and reiterated that Iran could become a new market for American agricultural products saying the administration planned to use unfrozen Iranian funds to buy wheat, soybeans and corn for a country he said was facing food shortages.
What the shipping data shows
Despite the attack, traffic through the strait has not stopped. Intelligence firm Kpler said 70 vessels crossed the waterway on Wednesday and eight more had done so by Thursday, Reuters reported. Earlier this week, 109 vessels transited the strait between Saturday and Monday the highest level since the war began in late February.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, wrapping up a tour of Gulf states, said Washington was watching “whether or not ships are moving” through the waterway, adding that if Iran threatened or blocked vessels, “then we’re going to have a problem.”
US Central Command posted photographs on Thursday of American F-16 fighter jets on patrol over the Middle East. “US forces remain present and vigilant throughout the region,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.
