Dubai, June 26: 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.
The report of a strike came hours after Iran threatened vessels to stop using the route through the strait without Tehran’s permission. The vessel that was attacked was not part of the evacuation effort, said Arsenio Dominguez, the UN agency’s secretary-general.
A US official said that the vessel was hit by an Iranian drone.
The official said the merchant vessel Ever Lovely was attacked by a drone being flown by the Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Following reports of the attack, Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority – a new government agency established to control shipping in the strait – wrote on X that transit outside its own designated routes “will not be covered by the guarantee of safe passage.”
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said the vessel sustained damage, but it reported no injuries or environmental effects from the attack off the coast of Oman.
Alternative passage
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 ensuring that ships are able to transit the strait.
The US and Iran are still debating terms of an interim peace deal, including issues such as getting ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf and addressing the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
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. Iran says the tentative deal to end the war would require Israel to withdraw from Lebanon — a condition Israel has rejected.
New shipping route unacceptable: Iran
The naval arm of the Revolutionary Guard issued a warning Thursday against using the new route.
In a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, naval officials said the 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 added, without elaborating.
Missile alert goes off in Dubai
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates on Friday sounded an incoming missile alert for Dubai but shortly afterward told the public to “disregard the previous warning,” an indication that it was likely triggered by mistake.
The brief text message from the UAE’s Interior Ministry, the first of its kind during the Iran war, seemed to signal an accidental alert that went out to the public. It wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the warning just after 5:15 pm local time.
The authorities did not elaborate. The mobile phone alerted startled many in Dubai, the first in weeks since the ceasefire in the war. (AP)
