Iran attacked a cargo ship traveling through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, possibly upending President Donald Trump‘s diplomatic end to the war with Iran.
A U.S. official confirmed to the Washington Examiner that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “struck it with a drone.” The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations reported the attack Thursday afternoon, writing that “a cargo vessel has been hit on the starboard side by an unknown projectile, causing damage to the bridge,” but no casualties.
The White House did not respond to questions about the attack.
Trump signed his memorandum of understanding with Iran, a 60-day ceasefire while Washington and Tehran negotiate the finer points of a nuclear deal, last week. However, fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iranian threats to reshutter commerce moving through the strait, and the president’s own retaliatory threats raised against Iran nearly scuttled talks before Vice President JD Vance, who is leading the U.S. negotiating team, was able to meet with his Iranian counterparts in Switzerland over the weekend.
Vance later returned to the United States, claiming that Iran would allow United Nations nuclear inspectors into the country to conduct routine inspections as they disassemble the remnants of their nuclear weapons program. Iran later denied that any such agreement had been made in Switzerland.
TRUMP SAYS HE DOESN’T THINK US WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR FATAL STRIKE ON IRANIAN SCHOOL
Trump was asked about the rocky talks this week but denied that Iran holds any economic leverage over the U.S., despite his past claims that the MOU averted a global depression.
“Their navy is gone, their air force is gone, their leaders are all dead, their whole country is a mess, their economy is shot,” the president said at the time in response to a question on the issue. “In the meantime, we’re setting records. We have the strongest economy we’ve ever had. We have $18 [trillion] to 19 trillion being poured into our country. We’re building factories all over the place. We have more people working today than at any time in the history of our country at higher salaries, so when you ask a question like that, it’s so stupid.”
This is a developing story and will be updated with new information as available.