Commercial shipping traffic was trickling through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, a day after Iran launched a drone strike on Bahrain, an action strongly condemned by US allies in the Gulf. The United Arab Emirates denounced the attack in the strongest terms, while Kuwait, which hosts major U.S. bases, called it a threat to regional security and stability. Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, described the strike as a flagrant violation of its sovereignty.
According to the UK's Maritime Trade Operations, a tanker in the strait was struck by a projectile, sustaining damage, though the crew was unharmed. By Saturday morning, approximately ten commercial ships had passed through the critical waterway.
Tensions escalated after an Iranian drone strike on Thursday targeted a Singapore-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Oman. In response, the U.S. military conducted attacks on Iranian targets. The U.S. Central Command stated Friday that it executed a powerful response to Iran's attack on the M/V Ever Lovely as the ship transited the strait a day prior. The retaliatory strikes hit Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites.
CENTCOM characterized the Iranian actions as unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping that violated a ceasefire agreement. The command also noted that Iran's behavior undermined freedom of navigation in the vital international trade corridor.
Vice President JD Vance, who was involved in Iran talks in Switzerland on Monday, vowed that Iranian violence would not continue. "Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honored it," Vance stated Friday evening. "If they have disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone. But violence will be met with violence."
The U.S. maritime body overseeing the region announced an expansion of a route along Oman, a move seen as further pushback against Tehran. This development occurs amidst ongoing efforts to negotiate an Iran deal within a 60-day window established by a Memorandum of Understanding. The body assessed the current threat level in the region as "substantial."