LNG tanker set ablaze by projectile in the Strait of Hormuz
A liquefied natural gas tanker carrying cargo from Qatar was struck by a projectile and set ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman early Tuesday, according to the British navy’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center. UKMTO did not name an attacker; Iranian state television implied Tehran carried out the strike, saying the vessel had been hit after ignoring warnings, while stopping short of an official claim.
The attack is the latest on a ship transiting the narrow chokepoint through which roughly a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas once passed in peacetime. Tehran’s joint military command has insisted that vessels use only its approved routes and is suspected of striking ships that instead hug the Omani shore.
The incident cuts against the fragile understanding reached after the recent US-Iran war. Under an interim deal, Iran agreed to 60 days of passage without charges, but Tehran continues to demand control over routing and the right to levy fees — terms Washington rejects. Talks aimed at fully reopening the strait and resolving the nuclear dispute are on hold until after the burial of Iran’s supreme leader, and a strike on commercial shipping raises the risk that the pause hardens back into confrontation.