Margarete Damron
Iran launched an explosive-laden suicide drone at a cargo ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, endangering the regime’s fragile truce with the US after Donald Trump had declared the waterway safe for oil tankers.
US officials told the Washington Post that a Singaporean ship was attacked by an Iranian Shahed drone on Thursday evening.
The vessel sustained significant damage to its bridge, though no injuries or deaths have been confirmed.
Prior to the attack, Iran issued warnings through regime media to oil tankers, cautioning that routes through the strait were restricted and that other routes were ‘completely dangerous.’
The attack comes as the US and Iran delicately negotiate a long-term peace agreement that would limit the regime’s nuclear program.
Trump has previously said he would strike Iran if it violated the recently signed ceasefire, which allows for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil.
Although the President has said the strait is reopened following the ceasefire, only 50 vessels passed through the waterway on Wednesday.
The Daily Mail has contacted the White House for comment.
At the start of the war, Iran closed the narrow strait using speedboats, drones and sea mines.
In the months that followed, gas prices in the US skyrocketed to above $4.50 per gallon on average, while Europe and Asia began rationing oil supplies.
It is unclear if traffic through the strait has been affected by the recent attack. The regime has not issued a direct statement on the matter.
The route attacked by Iran had been promoted by the United Nations maritime service as a safe shipping lane for oil tankers.
The peace deal, signed last week, committed Iran to using its ‘best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days.’
Ending Tehran’s stranglehold on the waterway, which disrupted global oil and gas supplies and drove up fuel and food prices, had been a key US demand in negotiations.
The agreement also said Iran will work with Oman to ‘define the future administration and maritime services’ of the strait, though there is significant uncertainty as to what will happen after the 60 days is up.
Vice President JD Vance and Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are leading US diplomatic efforts with the regime, demanding that it abandon its enriched uranium stockpile and nuclear ambitions.
Source: Dailymail.co.uk | Read the Full Story…
