Tensions flare near Strait of Hormuz as a ship is seized and another is sunk<\/p>\n
A ship anchored off the United Arab Emirates was seized and taken toward Iran and another \u2014 a cargo ship near Oman \u2014 sank after being attacked, authorities said Thursday, as tensions escalated near the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t immediately clear who was behind these incidents, but they happened as a senior Iranian official reiterated his country\u2019s claim of control over the waterway and another said it had a right to seize oil tankers connected to the U.S.<\/p>\n
The turmoil in the strait, which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil passed through before the war, has been a sticking point for weeks in talks between the U.S. and Iran to end the conflict. Iran\u2019s grip on the vital waterway has jolted the world economy and spiked fuel prices far beyond the Middle East.<\/p>\n
The ongoing instability in the region came as U.S. President Donald Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. The White House said both sides had agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open.<\/p>\n
Just last week, tensions flared in the strait when U.S. forces fired on and disabled Iranian oil tankers that they said were trying to breach its blockade of Iran\u2019s ports.<\/p>\n
Seizures and attacks in Hormuz ongoing<\/p>\n
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said it received reports that the ship seized Thursday was taken by unauthorized personnel while anchored 38 nautical miles (70 kilometers, 44 miles) northeast of the UAE port of Fujairah, an important oil export terminal that has been repeatedly attacked during the war with Iran.<\/p>\n
The U.K. maritime center did not name the ship seized Thursday and said it is investigating. The British military said the vessel is heading toward Iranian waters.<\/p>\n
Indian authorities said Thursday that an Indian-flagged cargo ship sank off the coast of Oman after an attack sparked a fire aboard the vessel while it was en route from Somalia to Sharjah, another UAE port. They did not say who attacked the ship.<\/p>\n
The attack on the Indian-flagged cargo ship Haji Ali occurred Wednesday, according to Mukesh Mangal, a senior official in India\u2019s shipping ministry. He said all 14 Indian crew members were rescued by Oman\u2019s coast guard and were safe.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s foreign ministry called the incident \u201cunacceptable\u201d and condemned continued attacks on commercial shipping and civilian mariners. The ministry did not identify who carried out the attack.<\/p>\n
Seizures come at tense diplomatic moment<\/p>\n
Iranian semiofficial news agencies reported that Chinese ships began passing through the strait Wednesday night under new Iranian protocols. According to the reports, Tehran agreed to facilitate the passage of several Chinese vessels after requests from China\u2019s foreign minister and Beijing\u2019s ambassador to Iran. The ships began their passage as Trump arrived in China.<\/p>\n
The seizure of a ship off the coast of the UAE happened hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had quietly visited the country during the Israeli-U.S. war with Iran, though the UAE swiftly denied it.<\/p>\n
The Gulf nation normalized relations with Israel in 2020. Iran has criticized that agreement and has repeatedly suggested over the years that Israel maintained a military and intelligence presence in the UAE.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s decision to go public with the sensitive meeting was likely an effort to drum up support for his flagging party ahead of Israeli elections, said Yoel Guzansky, a senior researcher at the Institute of National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s amazing, it\u2019s the deepest cooperation we\u2019ve ever had \u2026 that during a war, Israel is defending an Arab state against Iran. It shows how complicated the Middle East is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The UAE is trying to highlight its cooperation with Israel but not with Netanyahu and his government, Guzansky said, because many in the UAE are against Israel\u2019s policies in Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re trying to differentiate between security cooperation and cooperating with this government,\u201d said Guzansky, who previously worked for the national security council within the Israeli prime minister\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
Iran sets demands for new talks<\/p>\n
Iran said it will not enter more talks with the United States unless five conditions are met, including paying reparations for the war and accepting Iran\u2019s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, Iran\u2019s semiofficial Fars news agency reported, citing an informed source.<\/p>\n
The White House is again unlikely to accept those demands, which would essentially formalize Iran\u2019s control over a waterway that was open to international traffic before the war.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s senior vice president, Mohammadreza Aref, said Thursday that the strait belongs to Iran and that Tehran would not give it up \u201cat any price,\u201d state TV reported. \u201cIt has always been our property,\u201d Aref said.<\/p>\n
Iran defends right to seize ships<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s judiciary spokesperson told the state-owned Iran Daily newspaper on Thursday that Iran has the legal and judicial right to seize oil tankers in the strait that are connected to the U.S. because the U.S. has violated international maritime laws and committed piracy. The spokesperson, Asghar Jahangir, did not explicitly refer to the tanker seized on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Iran seized a number of ships, including a tanker identified as the Ocean Koi, last week, saying it was attempting to disrupt oil exports and Iranian interests, according to the official IRNA news agency. It said the tanker was seized in the Gulf of Oman and carrying Iranian oil when it was taken to Iran\u2019s southern coast.<\/p>\n
The U.S. sanctioned the Ocean Koi in February as part of a \u201cshadow fleet\u201d transporting Iranian oil.<\/p>\n
Top US military leader says Iran\u2019s threats impact shipping<\/p>\n
The top U.S. commander in the Middle East said Thursday he believes Iran\u2019s military capabilities have been \u201cdramatically degraded,\u201d but its leaders are impacting shipping in the strait with rhetoric alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir voice is very loud, and the threats are clearly heard by the merchant industry and the insurance industry,\u201d Adm. Brad Cooper told lawmakers in Congress.<\/p>\n
He said the U.S. has the military power to permanently reopen the strait and escort ships. But he deferred to policymakers about the best path forward amid a \u201ctime of sensitive negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n
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