Iran Strikes Ship in Strait of Hormuz, Undermining Efforts to Restore Traffic

Iran’s armed forces struck a container ship that was passing through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, according to U.S.and Iranian officials, undermining efforts to restore shipping traffic through the crucial waterway.The attack came hours after Iran, demonstrating its hold over the strait, had warned ships that the only route through the vital pathway for oil and natural gas was through its waters.

Many ships had been using a route on the southern side of the strait, hugging the Omani coast.The strike halted traffic through the crucial waterway, contradicting President Trump’s claim that Iran did not control the strait and his assurances that it was open once again to shipping.Oil prices jumped after the attack, with the cost of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, rising over 2 percent to about $75 a barrel.

West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S.benchmark, also rose over 2 percent, to around $72 a barrel.A U.S.

official, who spoke anonymously in order to share details of the strike, said the vessel had been hit by a drone.The attack prompted the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, to suspend its plan to evacuate seafarers from hundreds of ships that had been stranded in the Persian Gulf.It was not clear how the strike would affect the ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran over control of the strait and over Iran’s nuclear program.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on Thursday with Gulf Arab leaders in Bahrain to try to allay their security concerns.Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had warned ships earlier on Thursday that they must coordinate with its navy and that they should not take an alternative route, in an apparent reference to Omani territorial waters.The threats came just as shipping in the waterway was surging this week after months of near-paralysis.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience ...