Iran's Revolutionary Guard opened fire on a container ship off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, damaging the vessel and raising tensions after planned ceasefire talks in Pakistan failed to materialise.
The attack came after US President Donald Trump said the country has indefinitely extend the ceasefire with Iran, which had been due to expire on Wednesday, to give Tehran time to come up with a “unified proposal” ahead of possible negotiations. Iran has offered no formal acknowledgment of Trump's ceasefire extension.
The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the attack happened around 7:55 am in the strait and targeted a container ship. The UKMTO said a Guard gunboat did not hail the ship before firing and added that the incident took place 15 nautical miles northeast of Oman and all the crew were safe.
"The master of a container ship reported that the vessel was approached by one IRGC gunboat... that then fired upon the vessel, which has caused heavy damage to the bridge. No fires or environmental impact reported," it said.
Iran did not immediately acknowledge the assault. However, Iran's Nour News reported that the Guard only opened fire on the ship after it had "ignored the warnings of the Iranian armed forces".
Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency described the attack as Iran "lawfully enforcing" its control over the Strait of Hormuz.
The attack comes after the US seized an Iranian container ship after shooting it this past weekend and boarded an oil tanker associated with Iran’s oil trade in the Indian Ocean.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Iran was "collapsing financially" over the closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz.
"Iran is collapsing financially! They want the Strait of Hormuz opened immediately," he wrote on Truth Social, adding that the Islamic republic was "starving for cash."
Trump posted earlier that Tehran said it supported the closure of the strait to "save face" under the US blockade of Iranian ports.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump extended the the two-week truce with Iran indefinitely and credited a request from mediator Pakistan and stressed the need to give Iran's "fractured" leadership time to form a proposal. However, he said the US blockade of Iran's ports — a sticking point for Tehran — would continue.
Trump had previously indicated he would not extend the ceasefire and had warned of a resumption of bombing when it expired. "I have... directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their (Iran's) proposal is submitted," he wrote on social media.
Ahead of Trump's eleventh-hour intervention, it had been unclear exactly when the original ceasefire would expire, with Pakistan indicating it would end at 2350 GMT Tuesday.
This moment came and went with no reports of new military activity by Iran, which had said the ceasefire would end at 0000 GMT. Iran made no immediate public comment in response to Trump's announcement.
The fate of peace talks hosted by Pakistan was hanging in the balance following Trump's announcement.
A White House official confirmed that Vice President JD Vance would not travel to Pakistan for talks Tuesday as previously planned, pending the submission of an Iranian proposal.
(With inputs from AFP and AP)
