File image.
An unidentified projectile damaged the engine room of a commercial vessel and “resulted in a crew casualty” early on the morning of August 18 as the vessel was trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center reported.
The center did not release any details about the vessel or its cargo, and it was not clear whether the crew member was killed in the attack or wounded.
It said the Omani Coast Guard was assisting other crew members of the targeted vessel and that authorities were investigating.
Hours after the attack, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf vowed that the Islamic Republic will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States fulfills its commitments under a memorandum of understanding signed between the two sides.
Speaking during a parliamentary session, Qalibaf said Iran would use both diplomatic and military means to make the U.S. “understand the consequences of its actions,” according to Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA.
“Let me be clear: until the U.S. fulfills its commitments under the memorandum of understanding — including lifting the blockade, releasing frozen assets, lifting oil sanctions, ending threats and military operations on all fronts, and implementing the other conditions it committed to under the memorandum — the Strait will not reopen,” he said.
Qalibaf, who also serves as the chief of Iran’s negotiating team in talks with the U.S., said the Islamic Republic was pursuing what he described as “the power of logic and the logic of power” through coordination between the diplomatic and military fields.
He said the period provided by the memorandum, including the lifting of the U.S. blockade and ceasefire, had helped Iran increase its economic resilience and rebuild its defensive capabilities.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared, in proportion to the enemy’s actions and aggression, to inflict an even heavier defeat on it,” Qalibaf added.
In an apparent response to these remarks, President Donald Trump posted an image on his Truth Social account showing the Strait of Hormuz as a new U.S. territory. The post came a few days after the U.S. president vowed he would “soon” declare the vital waterway a part of the U.S.
Trump has made repeated threats against Iran during the talks that never materialized. At the same time, he has escalated against the Islamic Republic on multiple occasions, even when negotiations were moving forward.
His latest threat may be a sign that the U.S. is about to escalate against Iran in an unprecedented way, namely by launching a ground operation. Capturing the Iranian coast along the Strait of Hormuz may be the only way to reopen the waterway without a deal with the Islamic Republic.
Trump’s remarks about declaring the Strait of Hormuz as new U.S. territory may be meant to promote such a highly risky operation to Americans.
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