A United Nations agency paused the evacuation of ships through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday after the British military said a vessel was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman following the passage of several tankers that used a route backed by the UN.
The head of the International Maritime Organisation said the plan to move stranded ships out of the Persian Gulf through the strait will be on hold until the agency can confirm safety guarantees for the ships on the evacuation list and in the region.
It was unclear who launched the projectile or the type of vessel that was targeted. The report of a strike came hours after Iran threatened vessels to stop using the route through the strait without Tehran's permission.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said the vessel sustained damage, but it reported no injuries or environmental impact in the attack off the coast of Oman.
The opening of an alternative passage through the vital waterway would relieve pressure on the world economy and remove Iran's main source of leverage in ongoing peace talks with the United States. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on a visit to the Gulf to reassure American allies, said Washington was committed to the new route and making sure ships were able to transit the strait.
“If that stops, then we're going to have a problem,” Rubio said earlier on Thursday.
Traffic through the strait increased in recent days but was still well below prewar levels. Oil on Thursday briefly dipped below its last prewar price of just under $73 per barrel, a sign that the market believes the situation was improving.
The US and Iran are still debating terms of an interim peace deal — from getting ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf to the future of Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Under the memorandum of understanding signed last week, the US and Iran have 60 days to iron out the details. As talks are held behind closed doors, US President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders have seemed to negotiate in public, trading threats and claiming concessions the other side denies.
Meanwhile, a flare-up of fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants threatened the wider truce. Lebanon says five people have been killed by Israeli strikes over the past two days.
Oil tankers, led by the Stoic Warrior vessel, sailed along the United Arab Emirates and then Oman early on Thursday, passing by Oman's Musandam Peninsula fairly close to the shore. The route was laid out by Oman and the International Maritime Organisation, a UN agency.
North of the route is a corridor in the center of the strait where ships had moved through freely before the war, transporting about a fifth of all the world's oil and natural gas. Iran said it mined that passage after the US and Israel attacked it on February 28. At least one mine has been sighted there.
Though some ships had been getting out of the strait, with US military support, the UN agency's effort is the latest to free trapped vessels. The shipping company Maersk said its container ship, the Maersk Baltimore, and another chartered vessel made it out on Thursday.
Iran says new shipping route unacceptable
The naval arm of the Revolutionary Guard issued a warning on Thursday against using the route. It said the new route was established without notice or coordination with Iran, calling it “unacceptable and completely dangerous”. “The only authorised route for passing through the Strait of Hormuz is the one declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Iranian force said. “Vessel traffic outside these routes is extremely dangerous and prohibited. Violators will be dealt with,” it said, without elaborating.
Also read: US ties with Gulf Arab partners rock solid: Rubio
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