Commercial vessels were moving only gradually through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, as Gulf allies of the United States sharply denounced an Iranian drone attack on Bahrain.
The United Arab Emirates condemned the strike “in the strongest terms,” while Kuwait — which hosts key US military installations — described it as a “threat to the security and stability of the region.”
Bahrain’s foreign ministry, in the country that hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, called the incident “a flagrant violation of Bahrain’s sovereignty.”
Separately, a tanker traveling in the strait was hit by a projectile, the UK’s Maritime Trade Operations reported.
The agency said the vessel sustained damage, but no crew members were injured.
As of Saturday morning, 10 commercial ships had transited the strategically vital waterway, Fox reported.
The latest escalation followed a Thursday Iranian drone strike on a Singapore-flagged cargo vessel off the coast of Oman, an incident that led to US military strikes on Iranian targets.
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A US military-overseen maritime authority said it was widening a designated route along Oman.
That move was seen as more brushback to Tehran, which inked a Memorandum of Understanding with the US where both sides agreed the strait would remain open for 60 days toll-free.
The body called the current threat level “substantial.”
On Friday ,the US executed a “powerful response” to Iran’s attack on the M/V Ever Lovely as the ship transited the strait a day earlier, attacking Iranian missile and drone storage locations as well as coastal radar, Central Command said Friday.
“The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire,” CENTCOM said.
“Furthermore, Iran’s dangerous behavior undermined freedom of navigation as commerce increasingly flows through the vital international trade corridor.”
Vice President JD Vance, who was in Switzerland for Iran talks with the Tehran on Monday, vowed Friday evening that violence by the Iranians would not continue.
“Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honored it. If they have disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone,”he said.
“But violence will be met with violence.”
