Two senior American officials told The Wall Street Journal that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps carried out an attack on a Singapore-registered merchant ship as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday.
The vessel was traveling near the coast of Oman when it came under attack — just hours after Iran’s paramilitary naval force had put out a warning telling commercial ships to stay out of shipping lanes in the strategic waterway unless they had received explicit authorization from Tehran.
The ship took a hit to its bridge — the area aboard that houses navigation, communications, and command operations. UK Maritime Trade Operations confirmed the bridge sustained structural damage but reported that no crew members were injured in the incident.
The attack is being viewed as a significant challenge to a US-Iran deal reached in mid-June, which included commitments from both governments to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to international maritime traffic. According to The Wall Street Journal, the White House declined to offer any comment on the attack.
Iran’s warning to merchant vessels came just hours before the ship was struck. Tehran had specifically directed ships to avoid unauthorized transit routes through the strait — meaning any passage not cleared by the Iranian government.
Over the weekend, Iran had already closed the Strait of Hormuz after demanding a halt to Israeli military operations in Lebanon. The most recent attack took place in spite of the agreement’s requirement that the waterway remain accessible to international shipping.
The International Maritime Organization confirmed that the Singapore-flagged cargo vessel targeted in the attack was not part of any evacuation program.
Before the regional conflict that erupted this spring, the Strait of Hormuz served as a transit corridor for roughly 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas shipments. Disruptions to shipping through the passage have historically caused significant swings in global energy prices.
