A British maritime monitoring agency has said a cargo ship reported being hit by a projectile overnight off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States and Iran made opposing claims about whether they were holding talks.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Tuesday a cargo ship reported being hit by an "unknown projectile" at around 2 am local time (2200 GMT) while sailing about 37 kilometres northeast of Al Khasab, Oman.
The agency did not identify the vessel, its flag or whether it was carrying cargo.
The town of Al Khasab sits on the tip of the Arabian peninsula that juts into the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway at the mouth of the Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas passed before the war.
The strait has been effectively shut by Iran’s attacks on shipping since the start of the US-Israel joint war in February, while the US also has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports in the waterway.
US-Iran talks
The report came after the US and Iran offered conflicting claims about the resumption of talks.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Washington and Tehran have restarted negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.
Iran, however, denied holding talks with the US, saying its discussions are only with Oman and focus on ensuring safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said he pulled back at the urging of Gulf allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Whether “Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking,” Trump maintained.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday that no negotiations were being held with the US, adding that Tehran’s talks were only with Oman and focused on establishing a route for safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump voiced frustration with Iran, suggesting Tehran had asked for the talks, which are critical to ending the monthslong conflict and reviving stalled cargo traffic through the strait.
“Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous!” the US president vented on Truth Social, his social media platform.
“They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg,’ talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with ‘Oman’,” he wrote.
