British Military: Three Tankers Hit in Strait of Hormuz Attacks

The new assaults were the most in a single day since late April, according to U.N. International Maritime Organization figures. The fresh attacks threatened to choke off the flow of traffic in the strait just as countries hoped to restore normal shipping practices and ease the global economic strain of the war.

One tanker was traveling off the coast of Oman and caught fire, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault.

Two other tankers were also hit, including one that was struck by a drone. It was not immediately clear where they were at the time of the attacks. Both of those ships sustained some damage, but no one was injured, the maritime agency said. At least one of the vessels continued on its way.

Tehran, which has repeatedly declared that only its approved route through the strait is safe, is suspected of attacking other ships that have used another route close to the Omani shore.

U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Tuesday's attacks.

Talks between US and Iran are on hold The U.S. is eager to press ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed at fully reopening the strait, rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program and reaching a permanent end to the war launched Feb. 28. An interim deal has been strained .

Previous attacks in the strait have sparked retaliatory strikes by the U.S. Iran then attacked Gulf Arab states .

In peacetime, a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the channel.

Meanwhile, talks between Iran and the U.S. appeared to be on hold until after the burial of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , who was killed at the beginning of the war. Mourners at his funeral have called for the death of U.S. President Donald Trump .

Authorities flew Khamenei's body to the Shiite seminary city of Qom, where mourners honored him Tuesday.

Tanker struck in latest attack in strait The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the first tanker to be struck was hit near Limah, Oman, in the strait. The agency said the projectile hit the port side of the vessel as it tried to travel south out of the strait toward the Gulf of Oman.

Iranian state TV, quoting anonymous sources, implied that Tehran carried out the assault on a tanker it said was carrying natural gas from Qatar. However, there was no official claim from the Islamic Republic for the attack.

Majed Al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, said the Qatari tanker Al Rekayyat was targeted in an “unacceptable attack” on international navigation and global energy security. He called it a “serious and explicit violation” of international law.

In a post on X, he said Qatar holds Iran “fully legally responsible” for the attack.

Iran’s joint military command warned last Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the strait must use its approved routes. It also said that interference by U.S. forces in the strait “will be met with a rapid and decisive reaction.”

But the Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational body overseen by the U.S. Navy, told shippers Monday that the route around Oman “has been expanded and remains available for all traffic.”

Ships going to the north on the Iranian route must register with Tehran. Those going south work with Oman and the U.S.

Speaking Monday at the White House, Trump warned Iran that it would need to “make a deal, or we're going to finish the job.”

“I'd rather make a deal, because I don’t want to affect 91 million people,” Trump said. “We can knock down their bridges in one hour. We can knock out their energy supply.”

Iran and the United States agreed as part of an interim deal to allow ships to pass without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran insisted it must control the vessels' routes and later charge fees for passage, which would upend decades of practice in the waterway.

The U.S. and many Gulf Arab states say they will not agree to Iran charging for passage through the strait. An effort by Oman and the U.N. to launch a new route near Oman’s shore earlier sparked attacks across the Mideast.

The data firm Kpler reported that over last weekend at least 108 ships crossed through the strait using various routes.

Mourners gather in Qom for Khamenei's funeral Iranian state television aired live images Tuesday of hundreds of thousands of people walking toward Jamkaran Mosque, just south of Qom, for a funeral service for Khamenei. Shiites believe the mosque once hosted the Muhammad al-Mahdi, the 12th and last Shiite imam, who disappeared in the 9th century and is supposed to one day reappear to bring justice to the world.

Images of Khamenei and his son, Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei , were displayed on banners and posters held by mourners. Mojtaba Khamenei has yet to make an appearance at the funeral ceremonies, which are unfolding over several days. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father.

Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which began Saturday. Khamenei’s body will be taken next to Iraq, where processions are planned for Wednesday in Najaf and Karbala, the two holy cities of Iraqi Shiism.

Khamenei, who was 86, is to be buried Thursday at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.