Iran fires on 3 ships in the Strait of Hormuz as US maintains blockade and diplomacy stalls

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran fired on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz and seized two of them on Wednesday, intensifying its assault on shipping in the key waterway a day after U.S. President Donald Trump extended a ceasefire while maintaining an American blockade of Iranian ports.

Iranian media said the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was bringing the two ships to Iran after seizing them in the strait, through which 20% of the world’s oil passes in peacetime. The standoff over Iran’s closure of the strait and the U.S. blockade raised doubts about when or if talks would resume to end the crisis.

The conflict has already sent gas prices skyrocketing far beyond the region and raised the cost of food and a wide array of other products. The longer the strait remains closed, the more severe and widespread the effects will be — and the longer it will take the economy to bounce back.

The European Union energy commissioner, Dan Jørgensen, warned of lasting impact for consumers and business, likening the crisis to other major energy crunches over the last half-century. He said the war is costing Europe around 500 million euros ($600 million) each day.

Iran holds firm in apparent tit-for-tat with US

Iran’s leaders appear poised to drive a hard bargain with American negotiators after Trump said the U.S. would indefinitely extend the ceasefire that had been due to expire Wednesday, while Washington awaits a new proposal from Tehran.

Iranian media said the MSC Francesca and the Epaminodes were being escorted to Iran. The ships’ owners could not be immediately reached for comment. The U.S. had earlier seized two Iranian vessels as the ceasefire talks were due to take place in Pakistan.

The Guard attacked a third ship, identified as the Euphoria, which had become “stranded” on the Iranian coast, Iranian media reported, without elaborating.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center also reported the attacks, saying a Revolutionary Guard gunboat opened fire on a container ship and “caused heavy damage to the bridge.” A second cargo ship came under fire hours later, with no report of damage, though the vessel was then stopped in the water. No injuries to the crew of either vessel were reported.

There have been more than 30 attacks on ships in the Mideast since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28 with a surprise attack on Iran. Before then, the strait was open for all traffic.

It’s not clear when talks will restart

Iran’s ability to restrict traffic through the strait — which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean — has proved a major strategic advantage.

While the ceasefire means that American and Israeli airstrikes have stopped in Iran — and Tehran’s missiles no longer target Israel and the wider Middle East — the attacks in the strait and earlier American interdictions of Iranian ships show the maritime threat remains.

Without any diplomatic agreement, those attacks will likely deter ships from even attempting to pass through the waterway, and further squeeze global energy supplies. Wednesday’s attacks saw Brent crude oil, the international standard, spike to nearly $100 a barrel, up more than 35% since the war started.

The night before, hard-line supporters of Iran’s theocracy held rallies in which the Guard showed off missiles and launchers — a sign of defiance to Israel and the U.S., which devoted much of their airstrike campaign to destroying the country’s ballistic missile arsenal.

Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, the head of the Iranian mission in Egypt, told The Associated Press that no delegation would go to Pakistan until the U.S. lifts its blockade.

Two Pakistani officials told the AP that Islamabad is still waiting to hear from Tehran on when it will send a delegation. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

In the Iranian capital, Tehran, many wondered whether the ceasefire would hold.

“We should know where we stand. Is it going to be a ceasefire, peace or the war is going to continue?” said Mashallah Mohammad Sadegh, 59. “The way things currently are, one doesn’t know what to do.”

One killed in drone attack in Lebanon

In Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah broke out after the U.S. and Israel launched their initial strikes, the state-run National News Agency said an Israeli drone strike on the village of Jabbour killed one and wounded two others. Israel’s military denied that it had attacked the area.

A 10-day ceasefire went into effect in Lebanon on Friday, but there have been several Israeli strikes and Hezbollah claimed its first attack on Tuesday.

Since the war started, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, according to authorities. More than 2,290 people have been killed in Lebanon, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen have died in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
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Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Lorne Cook in Brussels and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.