Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that any attempt to pass through the strait without permission “will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and the offending vessel will be targeted”.
Tracking data shows a handful of oil and gas tankers crossed the strait early Saturday, but others turned back and by late afternoon hardly any ships were transiting the waterway.
A British maritime security agency said Revolutionary Guards fired on a tanker, while security intelligence firm Vanguard Tech reported the force had threatened to “destroy” an abandoned cruise ship fleeing the Gulf.
In a third incident, the UK agency said it received reports of a ship being hit by an unidentified projectile, which caused damage to shipping containers but did not cause a fire.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said it had summoned the Iranian ambassador to lodge a protest over the “firing incident” of two Indian-flagged ships in the strait.
French UN peacekeeper murdered
On the diplomatic front, Egypt, which has been involved in mediation efforts with Pakistan, appeared optimistic on Saturday when Foreign Minister Badr Abdellatty said Cairo and Islamabad expected a final agreement “in the coming days.”
A major sticking point has been Iran’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium.
Trump said Friday that Iran has agreed to hand over about 440 kilograms of its enriched uranium. “We are going to achieve this by going into Iran with a lot of excavators,” he said.