Tensions in the Strait of Hormuz climbed further Sunday when an Iranian cargo vessel was struck off Qeshm Island, killing one person and wounding four others, Iranian state media reported.
The attack comes a day before Tehran was due to brief regional countries on its efforts to manage shipping traffic in the contested waterway.
The events were a deadly reminder of the underlying challenge to global shipping even as attention turns to a new threat, with Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen now perched on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea.
State-run IRNA news agency quoted the Qeshm governor as blaming a "terrorist enemy." There was no immediate comment by the U.S. military, which has struck Iranian-flagged vessels during its blockade of Iranian ports – while facing a new threat from Iranian ballistic missiles launched at its warships.
Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations monitor said a vessel was hit by a projectile while transiting the strait, later adding that a fire had broken out and local authorities were evacuating those on board.
