Muscat, Oman. The U.N. International Maritime Organization on Thursday paused its operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz after a cargo vessel reported an attack near Oman. The incident renewed concerns over whether a preliminary agreement to end the Iran war will hold.
Reported attack near Oman
A cargo ship said it was hit by a projectile close to Oman, according to the British navy agency UKMTO. The report came hours after Tehran warned vessels against using routes it had not approved.
Two U.S. officials told Reuters that Iran had fired on the ship. Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which Tehran established to manage requests for ships to travel through the strait, said vessels traveling outside routes it has set would not be guaranteed safe passage.
“Consequences arising from passage through unauthorized routes shall be the responsibility of the owner, operator, and vessel commander,” the Iranian authority said.
Vessel identified by sources
Four sources identified the ship as the Singapore-flagged Ever Lovely. A security source said it was likely targeted by a drone.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. government.
Concerns over agreement
U.S. President Donald Trump warned earlier this month that if Iran did not honor an agreement aimed at ending the war and reopening the strait, the United States would probably resume bombing the country.
IMO pauses evacuation effort
The IMO had been helping hundreds of stranded ships and thousands of seafarers leave the strait, where they had been stranded for months since the war began in late February.
It decided “to temporarily pause its implementation in order to reconfirm that the necessary safety guarantees continue to be in place for the ships on our evacuation list and all those in the region,” IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement.
The IMO said the ship involved in the suspected attack was not part of its evacuation program.
Escort routes
The initiative, launched on Tuesday, was a voluntary option for ships and their crews to sail out of the Gulf using two routes, one via Iranian waters and the other via Omani waters, with U.S. oversight, the IMO said this week.
