DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian state television reported Wednesday that a foreign container ship ran aground in the Strait of Hormuz after the vessel failed to follow the route Iran has designated for ships passing through the waterway. No additional details about the ship were immediately provided.
The report appeared designed to reinforce Iran’s assertions of authority over the strait — a waterway long recognized internationally as open passage, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas flowed during peacetime, following the U.S.-Iran war.
The news broke as U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, were in Doha, Qatar, for discussions aimed at bringing the conflict to a permanent close.
Technical-level diplomatic talks got underway Wednesday in Qatar, according to two regional officials who requested anonymity to speak about the closed-door sessions. Negotiators are working to hammer out specifics that would allow top leaders to finalize a deal, though major sticking points remain — particularly regarding the strait and Lebanon.
Iran did not immediately acknowledge that the negotiations had begun.
Under an interim agreement, Iran and the United States agreed to allow ships to pass through the strait without fees for 60 days. However, Tehran has insisted it must control vessel routes and eventually collect passage fees — a demand that breaks with longstanding practice. The U.S. and numerous Gulf Arab nations have rejected the fee arrangement. An attempt by Oman and a United Nations agency to establish an alternative route near Oman’s coastline triggered attacks across the Middle East last weekend, underscoring how volatile the situation remains.
Iranian state TV reported that the grounded ship
