US, Iran launch new attacks as they wrestle for control of Gulf waters

A fragile truce in the Middle East was under strain on Tuesday after the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire in the Gulf as they wrestled for control of the Strait of Hormuz .

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said in a social media post on Tuesday breaches of the four-week-old ceasefire by the United States and its allies had endangered shipping and energy transit through the vital waterway.

“We know well that the continuation of the current situation is unbearable for the United States, while we have not even begun yet,” he said.

The fresh volleys of missiles and drones came after U.S. President Donald Trump launched a new effort to get stranded tankers and other ships through the strait, the vital energy-trade chokepoint that has been virtually closed since the U.S. and Israel began attacks on Iran in February, a war that has killed thousands of people across the region.

On Monday, several merchant ships in the Gulf reported explosions or fires, the U.S. said it had destroyed six small Iranian military boats, and an oil port in the United Arab Emirates, which hosts a large U.S. military base, was set ablaze by Iranian missiles.

Trump gave scant details about his new effort, which he called “Project Freedom,” to assist stuck ships in getting through the strait when he announced it on social media, two days after a legal deadline under U.S. law for him to get authorization from Congress for the war.

Trump told Congress the war was “terminated” and the deadline was moot, a claim disputed by some lawmakers.

It was the first apparent attempt to use military force since last month’s ceasefire announcement to unblock the world’s most important energy shipping route, which Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said can only happen with its permission.

The cost of shipping insurance has also skyrocketed. For weeks, the U.S. Navy has blockaded Iran’s trade by sea, which Iran says is itself an act of war.

But Trump’s latest move, at least initially, appeared to have backfired, bringing no surge of merchant ship traffic while provoking a promised show of force from Iran, which has threatened to respond to any escalation with new attacks on its neighbors hosting U.S. troops.

Major shipping companies said they were likely to wait for an agreed end to hostilities before trying to cross the strait.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Monday’s events showed there was no military solution to the crisis. He said peace talks were progressing with Pakistan’s mediation while warning the U.S. and the UAE against being drawn into a “quagmire by ill-wishers.”

“Project Freedom is Project Deadlock,” he wrote on social media.

Nonetheless, the U.S. military said two U.S. merchant ships made it through the strait, without saying when, with the support of Navy guided-missile destroyers.

While Iran denied any crossings had taken place in recent hours, Maersk said the Alliance Fairfax, a U.S.-flagged ship, exited the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz accompanied by the U.S. military on Monday.

The commander of U.S. forces in the region said his fleet had destroyed six small Iranian boats, which Iran also denied. Admiral Brad Cooper said he “strongly advised” Iranian forces to keep clear of U.S. military assets carrying out the mission.

Iranian authorities released a map of what they said was an expanded sea area now under their control, extending far beyond the strait to include long stretches of the UAE’s coastline.

South Korea reported one of its merchant ships, HMM Namu, in the strait suffered an explosion and fire in its engine room, though no one aboard was hurt, and a spokesman said it was unclear if the fire was caused by an attack or originated internally.

The British maritime security agency UKMTO reported two ships had been hit off the coast of the UAE, and the Emirati oil company ADNOC said one of its empty oil tankers was hit by Iranian drones.

After reported drone and missile attacks inside the UAE throughout the day, including one that caused a fire at Fujairah, an important oil port, the UAE said Iranian attacks marked a serious escalation and it reserved the right to respond.

Fujairah lies beyond the strait, making it one of few export routes for Middle East oil that does not require passing through it.

Its government also said that it was implementing remote learning for school students for safety reasons.

Iran’s state television network said military officials had confirmed they attacked the UAE in response to the “U.S. military’s adventurism.”

Earlier, Iran said it had fired on a U.S. warship approaching the strait, forcing it to turn around. An initial Iranian report had said a U.S. warship was struck, but the U.S. denied this and Iranian officials later described the fire as warning shots.

Reuters could not independently verify the full situation in the strait on Monday as the warring sides issued contradictory statements.

Iran’s unified command has told commercial ships and oil tankers that they needed to coordinate with its armed forces.

“We warn that any foreign armed forces, especially the aggressive U.S. Army, will be attacked if they intend to approach and enter the Strait of Hormuz,” it said.

The U.S. and Israel suspended their bombing of Iran four weeks ago, and U.S. and Iranian officials held one round of face-to-face peace talks. But attempts to set up further meetings have failed.

Iranian state media said on Sunday that the U.S. had conveyed its response to a 14-point Iranian proposal via Pakistan, and Iran was reviewing it. Neither side gave details.

The Iranian proposal would postpone discussion of Iran’s nuclear energy and research programs until after an agreement to end the war and resolve the standoff over shipping. Trump said over the weekend he was still studying it but would probably reject it.

The latest U.S. intelligence shows limited damage to Iran’s nuclear program, which Iran says is a purely peaceful civilian nuclear program, since the war began, officials told Reuters.

Iran’s nuclear facilities were bombed by the U.S. and Israel in attacks last year. Trump wants to remove Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium to prevent Iran from processing it further to the point where it could make a nuclear weapon.

周二，美国和伊朗在海湾地区交火，争夺霍尔木兹海峡的控制权，导致中东脆弱的停火协议面临压力。

伊朗议会议长穆罕默德·巴格尔·卡利巴夫周二在社交媒体上发帖称，美国及其盟友违反了已持续四周的停火协议，危及了这条重要水道的航运和能源运输。

他说：“我们很清楚，目前的局势如果继续下去，对美国来说是无法忍受的，而我们甚至还没有真正开始。”

在美国总统唐纳德·特朗普发起新一轮努力，试图让滞留在海峡的油轮和其他船只通过之后，又发生了新一轮的导弹和无人机袭击。这条重要的能源贸易咽喉要道自2月份美国和以色列开始袭击伊朗以来实际上一直处于关闭状态，这场战争已在该地区造成数千人死亡。

周一，海湾地区多艘商船报告发生爆炸或起火；美国称摧毁了六艘伊朗小型军舰；驻有美国大型军事基地的阿联酋的一个石油港口被伊朗导弹点燃。

特朗普在社交媒体上宣布了一项名为“自由计划”的新举措，旨在帮助被困船只通过海峡。但他并未透露太多细节。而此时距离美国法律规定的最后期限已过去两天，他必须从国会获得发动战争的授权。

特朗普告诉国会，战争已经“结束”，最后期限已无意义，但一些议员对此说法提出异议。

这是自上个月宣布停火以疏通世界上最重要的能源运输路线以来，伊朗首次明显尝试使用武力。伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队表示，只有得到他们的允许，才能疏通这条路线。

航运保险费用也大幅上涨。数周以来，美国海军封锁了伊朗的海上贸易，伊朗称此举本身就是一种战争行为。

但特朗普的最新举措，至少在初期看来，似乎适得其反，并未带来商船交通的激增，反而激怒了伊朗，伊朗威胁称，如果局势升级，将对驻有美军的邻国发动新的袭击。

各大航运公司表示，他们可能会等到双方同意停止敌对行动后再尝试穿越海峡。

伊朗外长阿巴斯·阿拉格奇周一表示，事态发展表明，这场危机没有军事解决途径。他表示，在巴基斯坦的斡旋下，和平谈判正在取得进展，同时警告美国和阿联酋不要被别有用心者拖入“泥潭”。

他在社交媒体上写道：“自由计划就是僵局计划。”

尽管如此，美国军方表示，在海军导弹驱逐舰的支援下，两艘美国商船成功通过了海峡，但没有说明具体时间。

尽管伊朗否认最近几个小时内发生了任何偷渡事件，但马士基表示，悬挂美国国旗的“联盟费尔法克斯”号货轮于周一在美国军方的陪同下，经由霍尔木兹海峡驶出波斯湾。

该地区美军指挥官称，其舰队摧毁了六艘伊朗小型船只，但伊朗方面否认了这一说法。布拉德·库珀海军上将表示，他“强烈建议”伊朗军队远离正在执行任务的美军设施。

伊朗当局公布了一张地图，称其控制的海域范围扩大，远远超出海峡，包括阿联酋的漫长海岸线。

韩国方面报告称，其一艘名为“HMM Namu”的商船在海峡中发生爆炸和火灾，但船上无人受伤。一位发言人表示，目前尚不清楚火灾是由袭击引起还是内部起火。

英国海事安全机构 UKMTO 报告称，两艘船只在阿联酋海岸附近遭到袭击；阿联酋石油公司 ADNOC 表示，其一艘空油轮遭到伊朗无人机袭击。

据报道，当天阿联酋境内发生多起无人机和导弹袭击事件，其中包括在重要的石油港口富查伊拉引发火灾的袭击。对此，阿联酋表示，伊朗的袭击标志着局势严重升级，并保留回应的权利。

富查伊拉位于海峡对岸，这使得它成为中东石油少数几个无需经过海峡即可出口的路线之一。

该国政府还表示，出于安全考虑，正在对学生实施远程学习。

伊朗国家电视台称，军方官员已证实，他们袭击阿联酋是为了回应“美国军队的冒险主义”。

此前，伊朗称向一艘驶近霍尔木兹海峡的美国军舰开火，迫使其掉头。伊朗最初的报道称击中了一艘美国军舰，但美国否认了这一说法，伊朗官员随后将此次开火描述为警告射击。

由于交战双方周一发表了相互矛盾的声明，路透社无法独立核实海峡的全部情况。

伊朗联合指挥部已告知商船和油轮，它们需要与伊朗武装部队协调行动。

“我们警告，任何外国武装力量，特别是咄咄逼人的美国军队，如果企图接近和进入霍尔木兹海峡，都将遭到攻击。”声明中写道。

美国和以色列四周前暂停了对伊朗的轰炸，美伊官员也举行了一轮面对面的和平会谈。但安排进一步会谈的尝试均告失败。

伊朗国家媒体周日报道称，美国已通过巴基斯坦向伊朗转达了其对伊朗提出的14点建议的回应，伊朗正在对此进行审查。双方均未透露更多细节。

伊朗的提议是将伊朗核能和核研究项目的讨论推迟到达成结束战争和解决航运僵局的协议之后。特朗普周末表示，他仍在研究该提议，但很可能会拒绝。

官员告诉路透社，美国最新情报显示，自战争开始以来，伊朗的核计划受到的损害有限。伊朗方面称，伊朗的核计划是一个纯粹的和平利用的民用核计划。

去年，美国和以色列对伊朗的核设施发动了轰炸。特朗普希望清除伊朗的浓缩铀库存，以防止伊朗进一步加工浓缩铀，最终制造出核武器。