Iran attacks commercial tankers in Strait of Hormuz amid ceasefire
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Iran attacked commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and Tuesday, and tensions flared again after President Donald Trump said the US was giving Tehran “a week off” during funerals for slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
A US official has confirmed that three commercial ships were hit by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz between Monday and Tuesday.
The attacks targeted commercial ships passing through one of the world’s busiest maritime chokepoints. British maritime authorities confirmed that a ship was hit by a shell near the Omani coast on Monday, while Iranian state media reported that the ship ignored warnings from Iranian forces. It was reported that the attack caused a fire on the ship, but there were no reports of deaths.
On Tuesday, United Kingdom Merchant Marine Operations (UKMTO) reported that another tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz was hit by an unidentified projectile. UKMTO said the ship sustained damage believed to be structural but no casualties or environmental impacts were reported. The agency stated that it continues to investigate the incident and advised ships passing through the strait to be careful and report any suspicious activity.
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The attacks threaten one of the world’s most important energy corridors and raise new questions about whether the fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire can hold long enough for the Trump administration to negotiate a broader peace deal. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, making any disruption to commercial shipping a potential risk to global energy markets and U.S. strategic interests.
Commercial cargo ships and crude oil tankers are anchored in the Gulf of Oman off the coast of Muscat, Oman, on June 21, 2026, as they prepare to transit the critical Strait of Hormuz. (Shady Alassar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
This comes after two ships were hit on Monday.
A US official confirmed on Monday that one ship belonged to Qatar’s liquefied natural gas carrier Al Rekayyat. While Iran acknowledged the attack, state media said the tanker ignored “repeated warnings” and continued to transit through the southern route of the strait near Oman with US help.
A US official confirmed that a second ship, the Saudi-flagged crude tanker Wedyan, was also damaged near the Strait of Hormuz. The cause of the damage is not yet clear, and Fox News Digital has contacted the ship’s operator, Bahri, and the Saudi Embassy in Washington for comment.
The White House and Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, declined to comment.
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The renewed attacks also cast doubt on the Trump administration’s diplomatic strategy. A few days earlier, the White House had paused negotiations while Iran monitored the funeral ceremonies for slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, with hopes of resuming negotiations after the mourning period ends.
In a speech at Mount Rushmore on July 4, Trump said Iran was “itching to settle down” after months of military pressure and declared that the United States had given Tehran “a week off for a funeral because we were OK.”
Trump did not provide detailed information about what the pause meant, but US and Iranian officials had postponed the negotiations until the end of Khamenei’s multi-day funeral ceremony, which was planned to end with his funeral in Mashhad.
Monday’s attack on commercial shipping raises new questions about whether the diplomatic opening Trump has described can withstand renewed hostilities in one of the world’s most strategically important waterways.
Iran has insisted it must play a leading role in managing traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and has sought to collect fees from commercial ships passing through the strategic waterway. The Trump administration has rejected this position, insisting that the strait remains open to free international navigation.
Iranian religious leaders and other mourners pass the coffins of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family members during a viewing ceremony ahead of days-long funeral ceremonies at the Imam Khomeini Musalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 3, 2026. ( )
In recent days, Iran has warned that commercial tankers using routes not approved by Iranian authorities would face a “strong response” and the latest attack follows a spate of attacks on commercial shipping since the US-Iran conflict began earlier this year.
The latest attacks are the latest test of the fragile ceasefire established under a memorandum of understanding signed in June that opened a 60-day period of talks between Washington and Tehran aimed at reaching a broader peace deal. The agreement called for reopening the strait during negotiations and ending military operations while the two sides negotiate a final agreement.
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On June 25, Iran attacked the Singapore-flagged cargo ship M/V Ever Lovely with a one-way drone while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz along the coast of Oman, prompting retaliatory U.S. strikes on Iran’s missile, drone, and coastal radar sites. US Central Command called the attack a “blatant violation of the ceasefire”.
A truck carrying the coffins of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family members passes among mourners during the funeral procession towards the Azadi Tower in Tehran, Iran, on Monday, July 6, 2026. (Vahid Salemi/AP)
Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has begun to recover in recent days following the US-Iran ceasefire, but shipping remains well below historic levels. Ship tracking firm Kpler reported that daily traffic had stabilized at around 30 to 60 ship passages; this figure was around 140 per day before the US attack on Iran, known as Operation Epic Rage.
