Iranian cargo ship hit in Strait of Hormuz, with one life lost

Diplomacy / 11 September 2026 Brics leaders gather for summit in New Delhi 11 September 2026 Middle East / 11 September 2026 Yemen’s Houthi-led forces take control of strategic Red Sea port 11 September 2026 United States / 11 September 2026 US marks 25th anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attack 11 September 2026 Latin America / 11 September 2026 First Lady Flores of Venezuela seeks home detention as heart condition worsens 11 September 2026 Iran War / 11 September 2026 UN chief warns against escalation in tensions in the Gulf 11 September 2026 Latin America / 11 September 2026 Brazil’s Supreme Court cancels session as political crisis deepens 11 September 2026 Central Africa / 11 September 2026 Congo’s Ebola outbreak is spreading, warns Africa’s top health body 11 September 2026 AN IRANIAN cargo vessel was struck early today off Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media said, as Tehran planned to brief countries in the region on its efforts to manage shipping traffic there.

The attack, which the reports said had killed one person and wounded four, drew attention back to the strait after threats to shipping intensified last week when Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi government captured the island of Mokha in the Red Sea’s Bab el-Mandeb Strait from the Saudis’ Yemeni allies. However, on Saturday night, the Houthis claimed to have carried out new attacks on neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

Today’s strike on an Iranian freighter was carried out by the “terrorist enemy,” the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted the Qeshm governor as saying. There was no immediate comment by the US military, which has struck Iranian-flagged vessels during its blockade of Iranian ports and faces a new threat from Iranian ballistic missiles launched at its warships.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations monitoring unit said a vessel had been hit by a projectile while transiting the strait, though it wasn’t clear if this referred to the same attack. It said a fire had broken out and that local authorities were evacuating those on board.

Qeshm Island, about 14 miles from the port city of Bandar Abbas, is key to Iran’s assertion of control over the Strait of Hormuz.

“Our people can’t be bullied into submission. Iran won’t surrender,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a social media post hours before the attack.

Tehran has said foreign ministers from regional countries will meet on Monday in Oman to discuss efforts by Iran and Oman to manage shipping in the waterway.

Commercial ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remains sparse as attacks continue on what was seen as an international waterway before the US and Israel launched the war with an unprovoked attack on Iran on February 28. Washington claims that plenty of oil is getting out as its military helps guide ships along Oman’s coast.

The new Yemeni attacks on Saudi Arabia were reported by Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree, who said in a statement that Yemeni forces had targeted a military base in Sharurah province.

The Saudi civil defence said that a projectile had fallen in al-Tawwal governorate near the border with Yemen, injuring two people and damaging a mosque and other buildings. The statement blamed the Houthis.