'Sporadic Clashes' In Strait Of Hormuz After US Attacks & Disables Two Iran Vessels Trying To Breach Blockade
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US Reportedly Struck 4 Iranian Oil Tankers Entering The Strait
Multiple accounts across social media are reporting that four tankers were apparently struck or disabled by the U.S. forces near Iran’s Jask area.
@EGYOSINT notes that satellite imagery shows one tanker on fire and extensive oil spills, including leaks from two tankers, with another spill detected about 7.4 kilometers from the anchorage site.
@Merrux confirmed that US forces hit an Iranian oil tanker near the port city of Bandar Jask last night.
The vessel is currently on fire. It remains unclear if other tankers were also hit, though smoke is rising from them. The tanker is visibly ablaze, there has been no response from Iran.
Presumably these are just more "love taps" and do not represent any threat to the so-called 'ceasefire'.
Iran Keeps US Waiting On Formal Response To Peace Proposal
A state of relative calm prevailed around the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, after days of sporadic flareups, as the Trump administration continues to await a formal response from Tehran on a U.S. proposal aimed at ending the war and reopening the Hormuz chokepoint, following last week's clashes between Iranian and U.S. naval forces in the world's most critical waterway.
As Times of Israel reports, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that Washington expected a response within hours and President Donald Trump later said it would likely be submitted “tonight.”
But a day later, there was no sign of movement from Iran on the proposal, which would formally end the war before talks on more contentious issues, including the Iranian nuclear program.
With US President Donald Trump due to begin a long-awaited visit to China next week, there has been mounting pressure to draw a line under the conflict, which has thrown energy markets into turmoil and posed a growing threat to the world economy.
As Tehran kept Washington waiting for its response after saying Friday it was not paying attention to “deadlines,” the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called into question the reliability of the US leadership in a call with his Turkish counterpart.
“The recent escalation of tensions by American forces in the Persian Gulf and their numerous actions in violating the ceasefire have added to suspicions about the motivation and seriousness of the American side in the path of diplomacy,” he said, according to an Iranian account of the call published by the ISNA news agency.
While there were no official signs of a breakthrough in negotiations as of early Saturday morning, new ship data from the Hormuz area may suggest that positive developments are ahead.
Qatari LNG Tanker Enters The Strait In First Since War
Bloomberg reporter Stephen Stapczynski wrote on X that an LNG tanker from Qatar is "attempting" to transit the Hormuz.
"If successful, this would be the first time Qatar has exported LNG out of the region since the Iran war began in late-Feb," Stapczynski noted, adding, "The tanker says it is destined for Pakistan."
The tanker is fully loaded with LNG and is currently transiting the Hormuz chokepoint. We must point out that the ship did not sail through the Hormuz Island route. There is no word on whether Iran charged the vessel a transit fee, but Tehran allows ships from "friendly" nations, primarily China, India, and the UAE, to pass.
On Friday, UBS energy analyst Anna Kishmariya told clients that shipping flows through the Hormuz chokepoint remain very restricted and that the global oil market is getting tighter.
There is certainly urgency among the Trump administration and other nations to unfreeze Hormuz, as oil market insiders see a roughly one-month countdown to global energy chaos if the waterway remains blocked through this month.
Ongoing Sporadic Clashes in Strait: Iran Media
Iran's Fars reports late morning (US time): Sporadic clashes between Iranian Armed Forces and US vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Amid the fog of war, nothing in the way of details initially emerged.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has condemned US "aggression and adventurism" but has also confirmed that Tehran is still reviewing the US proposal and is still going to respond soon. Al Jazeera cites state media on emerging deaths from the Iranian side:
Mohammad Radmehr, governor of Minab County in southern Iran, says he has received word that rescuers have found the body of one of five sailors reported missing after a US attack on an Iranian vessel overnight in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Radmehr as saying that search teams are continuing efforts to find the four remaining missing sailors. Earlier, as we reported, Radmehr said 10 sailors were also injured during the naval confrontation.
Details of Fresh US Airstrikes on Tankers
The Wall Street Journal has details (based on CENTCOM press release) after two Iranian-flagged tankers came under US attack for attempting to breach the US blockade:
U.S. military forces carried out airstrikes on Friday, hitting and disabling two empty Iranian-flagged oil tankers attempting to circumvent the American naval blockade against Iranian ports, according to U.S. Central Command.
The vessels struck were very large crude carriers attempting to return to an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman, the M/T Sea Star III and M/T Sevda, according to a statement from Centcom.
A U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighter from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush fired precision munitions into their smokestacks, disabling the tankers, Centcom said.
It marks third time the US has attacked commercial vessels for trying to break through to Iranian ports, following a Wednesday incident which saw a US Navy jet destroy rudder of an Iranian tanker under similar circumstances.
CENTCOM releases fresh footage of the airstrike on the Iranian-flagged M/T Sea Star III:
Iran: Last Night's US Action 'Gross Violation of Ceasefire'
Iran's stance is that the overnight US attacks on coastal sites near Hormuz marks a breach and collapse of the ceasefire, even as President Trump maintains that it was not, only calling it a "love tap". Still, Iran's Foreign Minister has clarified thatIran's response to the US plan to end the war is under review - and so efforts to get back to the table have not been totally abandoned.
The IRGC Navy on Friday is warning vessels to stay away from US warships in the Strait of Hormuz, amid concerns a return to full war could be imminent. Earlier Friday explosions were heard in Iran's Sirik city near the Strait of Hormuz - though the cause has not been given. This as the US military has confirmed additional airstrikes on empty tankers attempting to break the US naval blockade while en route to Iranian ports, per Fox News.
Statement from Iran FM:
Iranian Army Commandos Seize Oil Tanker Over Export Disruption Claims
The semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Iran has seized an oil tanker, accusing it of "attempting to disrupt oil exports and the interests of the Iranian nation." Tasnim did not elaborate on the seizure, but Iran's official state news agency, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), stated that the Iranian military directed the tanker to Iran's southern coast. The report noted that the tanker was carrying Iranian crude oil.
"Army commandos seized this violating oil tanker carrying a cargo of the Islamic Republic of Iran's oil, which was trying to harm and disrupt oil exports and the interests of the Iranian nation by exploiting regional conditions," IRNA stated. Earlier, US forces struck Iranian missile and drone launch sites and other military assets after CENTCOM reported that Iranian forces launched a missile and a one-way attack drone barrage at three US warships transiting the Homruz chokepoint. No US warships were hit.
Press TV reported overnight that Tehran said US forces targeted two of its oil tankers in the Hormuz area. The outlet also said the US hit civilian areas along its southern coast and on Qeshm Island "with the cooperation of some regional countries." The United Arab Emirates, which has been hit hard by Iran's retaliatory strikes, said earlier that its air defenses were intercepting missiles and drones targeting the country.
