A cargo ship has reported being struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital Middle East shipping lane, as the United States and Iran offered conflicting accounts over whether diplomatic talks between them are taking place.
CAIRO, Egypt — A British maritime monitoring agency said a cargo vessel reported it was hit overnight off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz, raising fresh concern over security in one of the world’s most important waterways. At the same time, Washington and Tehran issued sharply different statements about whether they are engaged in talks.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that the two sides are restarting discussions aimed at winding down the war. Iran, however, pushed back, saying it was speaking only with Oman and that the conversation centered on the Strait of Hormuz.
Here are the key developments in the Middle East on Tuesday.
Cargo ship reports strike in Strait of Hormuz
The vessel reported being “hit by an unknown projectile” at around 2 a.m. local time while positioned 37 kilometers (23 miles) northeast of Al Khasab, Oman, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center.
The UKMTO did not release additional details about the ship, including its flag state or whether it was transporting cargo at the time of the reported strike.
British maritime security company Ambrey said the ship sustained damage, though it did not provide further details on the extent of the impact.
Al Khasab is located at the northern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, where the land extends into the Strait of Hormuz. The narrow passage, at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, is a critical route for global energy supplies, carrying about one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas before the war.
The strait has been effectively shut by Iran’s attacks on shipping since the start of the war in February, while the U.S. also has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports in the waterway.
Yemen’s Houthis say they fired a drone toward an airport in Saudi Arabia
A military spokesman for the Iranian-backed rebels, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, claimed the drone hit a “sensitive target” at the airport in the southwestern city of Najran. He did not provide evidence.
He said the drone attack was in response to what he called Saudi breaching of Yemen’s airspace over the provinces of Saada and Hajjah. There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis recently announced they were imposing a blockade on Saudi-linked shipping passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that leads to the Red Sea. The rebels have long been at odds with Saudi Arabia, having fought a war against the kingdom and its allies. Major fighting ended with a truce in 2022.
The Houthi rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen in a civil war that began in 2014. Saudi Arabia led an international coalition fighting the rebels, and also imposed an air and sea blockade on Houthi-led parts of Yemen that has eased in recent years.
Qatar says mediation underway after US, Iran offer conflicting claims
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said Tuesday that mediation efforts were underway with all parties. “We’re looking into a diplomatic solution,” he said during a briefing. He did not elaborate, or mention the conflicting statements from the U.S. and Iran about direct talks
Trump said Monday that talks with Iran had resumed, a day after saying he called of massive strikes he had threatened to unleash on the country. Trump said he pulled back at the urging of Gulf allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Whether “Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking,” Trump maintained.
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Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Monday that no negotiations were being held with the U.S., adding that Tehran’s talks were only with Oman and focused on establishing a route for safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump voiced frustration with Iran, suggesting Tehran had asked for the talks, which are critical to ending the monthslong conflict and reviving stalled cargo traffic through the strait.
“Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous!” the U.S. president vented on Truth Social, his social media platform.
“They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg,’ talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with ‘Oman’,” he wrote.
Gaza holds mass funeral for people killed in 2023 airstrike
Gaza residents held a mass funeral Tuesday for 112 Palestinians whose bodies were recovered after nearly three years under the rubble in Gaza City. They were among more than 300 people killed on Nov. 22, 2023, when Israeli warplanes flattened a residential block in the city’s Sabra neighborhood.
First responders recovered the bodies over the weekend after digging through the rubble for 136 hours, according to the Civil Defense, a rescue agency operated under Gaza’s Hamas-run Interior Ministry.
The bodies included 40 children, 30 women and seven people with disabilities, the Civil Defense said in a statement, adding that another 157 people remained missing under the rubble.
Hundreds of people gathered for the funeral, where the bodies wrapped in Palestinian flags were laid in rows near the flattened buildings before being carried on stretchers through a narrow street for burial in a nearby cemetery.
The Gaza war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.
Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has since killed 73,375 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants but they are considered generally reliable by the United Nations and other international organizations.
Victims’ relatives mark anniversary of Beirut port explosion
Families of some of the more than 200 people killed in the 2020 Beirut port explosion gathered at the blast site to mark six years since tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate exploded, devastating large parts of the Lebanese capital.
No official has been convicted in a judicial investigation that has been repeatedly obstructed. The tragedy has since been overshadowed by other dramatic events, including two wars between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group that have killed thousands in Lebanon and left widespread destruction, and an Israeli military occupation of much of the country’s south.
But some of the families said they have renewed hope that the long-stalled investigation is nearing a breakthrough, after officials from the government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam promised that indictments would be issued by the end of the year.
Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip and Abby Sewell in Beirut, Lebanon, contributed.
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