US fires on Panama-flagged vessel accused of breaching Iran port blockade

The US military fired on a Panama-flagged cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday after accusing its crew of attempting to breach Washington’s blockade of Iranian ports. The strike comes during a period of relative calm in the US-Israeli war with Iran, following a 13-day escalation in July.

US Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US military operations in the region, said a Navy helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles at the Vela Nova cargo vessel.

Centcom said the vessel “attempted to transit the Gulf of Oman and violate the U.S. blockade against Iran by sailing toward an Iranian port”.

The missiles struck the ship’s engine room and disabled its steering gear, according to Centcom. The command also alleged that the crew “ignored repeated warnings from American forces”.

Centcom did not say whether any crew members were wounded.

The US military said it had disabled 55 commercial vessels during its blockade of Iranian ports, along with three “non-compliant vessels”, and had boarded two others.

Blockade returns amid renewed tensions

The US reinstated its naval blockade of Iranian ports after fighting resumed, while Iran again asserted control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Both measures had been lifted under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the US and Iran in June. The agreement was intended to pave the way for renewed negotiations on a longer-term peace deal, as well as discussions over sanctions on Iran and its nuclear programme.

The MoU appeared to collapse after the 13-day escalation in July, and efforts to revive an agreement have so far made little progress.

US President Donald Trump on Monday appeared to raise the stakes by calling for reparations from Iran for “50 years” of damage. Tehran has previously called for reconstruction funding to form part of any agreement, while the June MoU included a preliminary plan for a $300bn fund.

Houthis add to regional shipping risks

The latest fighting has also been complicated by attacks carried out by Yemen-based Houthis against ships in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, another major trade route in the region.

Iran has largely concentrated its diplomatic efforts on direct discussions with Oman over new shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz.

The waterway is a crucial trade corridor through which 20 per cent of the world’s maritime fossil fuel trade passed before the war launched by the US and Israel on February 28.

Iran sets conditions for reopening Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, as saying on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until Washington changed its approach and accepted Tehran’s conditions.

“The Strait of Hormuz “will not be opened until the United States changes its behaviour and accepts Iran’s conditions”,” Rezaei said, according to Tasnim.

He said any agreement reached with Oman would remain “separate” from the question of the strait’s closure.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Tehran on Tuesday for talks with Iranian officials, marking the latest effort to support wider mediation aimed at addressing the conflict.