Iran fires missiles at tankers in Strait of Hormuz

Shafaq News- London /Washington /Tehran

Iran's military fired at least two missiles at commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz overnight Monday, striking at least one vessel, two US officials told Axios.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) confirmed that a tanker traveling southbound was struck by an unknown projectile approximately 8 nautical miles east of Limah, Oman, causing a fire on the port side. No casualties were reported. One of the targeted vessels appears to be Al Rekayyat, a liquefied natural gas tanker owned by Nakilat, the shipping arm of Qatar's LNG industry, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Iranian state television said a gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings issued by Iranian naval forces but stopped short of directly claiming the assault.

The incident occurred after a one-week agreement between Washington and Tehran to halt strikes in the Strait of Hormuz expired. A 60-day memorandum of understanding signed in late June, with August 17 as the deadline, includes provisions on attacks in the waterway.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded hours after the incident: "Negotiations on final deal will not commence if threats continue. Honor your signature."