Iran accused the United States on Tuesday of killing five civilians in the Strait of Hormuz, saying US forces attacked two small passenger boats carrying people from Khasab on the Omani coast toward Iran, rather than Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels as Washington had claimed.
The accusation, carried by Iranian state broadcaster IRIB and attributed to an unnamed Iranian military commander, directly contradicted a statement by US Admiral Brad Cooper, who said Central Command forces had sunk six IRGC vessels that tried to interfere with a US operation to escort stranded commercial ships through the waterway. President Donald Trump later put the number of boats destroyed at seven. There was no immediate response from the US military to Iran's counterclaim.
The US operation, dubbed "Project Freedom," has strained a fragile ceasefire reached between the two countries on April 8. Iran launched missiles at ships being escorted during the operation, according to US officials. Iran's military also warned commercial vessels Monday that they would "jeopardize their safety" if they attempted to cross without permission and that US forces would face attack if they approached the chokepoint.
Separately, the United Arab Emirates said Iran launched a drone at one of its oil tankers attempting to transit the strait and fired 15 ballistic missiles and four drones at UAE territory. A fire and explosion were also reported on a South Korean cargo vessel, the HMM Namu, in the waterway. South Korea's foreign ministry confirmed all 24 crew members, including six South Korean nationals, were unharmed and the fire had been extinguished.
Trump called on South Korea to join the US-led effort to keep the strait open. Seoul's defense ministry said Tuesday it would "carefully review our position" but stopped short of any commitment, saying it would weigh international law, maritime safety, its alliance with Washington, and the security situation on the Korean peninsula.
Iran's chief negotiator in talks with the US, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, also the speaker of Iran's parliament, posted on social media Tuesday that Tehran had "not even started yet" in its standoff over the strait. "We know full well that the continuation of the status quo is intolerable for America," he wrote.
The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively blockaded since a broader Mideast conflict erupted on February 28. Roughly one-fifth of the world's traded oil supplies transit the waterway. Its closure has pushed oil and fertilizer prices higher and raised concerns about a wider global economic disruption. Iran has said it intends to maintain control over the strait and collect transit fees as reparations for damage caused by US and Israeli strikes.
Trump said over the weekend he would likely reject Iran's latest 14-point peace proposal, saying "they have not paid a big enough price."
