Trump accuses Iran of drone attack on container ship in Strait of Hormuz, calling it a ceasefire violation

A fragile US-Iran ceasefire unravelled in the Strait of Hormuz late Thursday when one-way attack drones struck a Singapore-flagged container ship, the Ever Lovely, as it transited a southern corridor close to the Omani coast. US forces shot down three other drones, President Donald Trump said, and he explicitly blamed Tehran for violating a memorandum of understanding that had reopened the waterway and restarted nuclear talks just days earlier.

Obviously this is a foolish violation of the Ceasefire Agreement.

Attack shatters evacuation effort

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) had guided 115 ships and 2,500 seafarers out of the Gulf since Tuesday under an evacuation plan split into two lanes: one north through Iranian waters and one south near Oman. That effort was suspended after the Ever Lovely was hit on its starboard side near Dakhit, Oman. No crew were injured, but IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said the agency needed fresh security guarantees before resuming.

Once I receive further assurances on that, we are ready to restart the evacuation process.

Dominguez estimated it would take weeks to evacuate the roughly 500 vessels still trapped. The pre-war Traffic Separation Scheme through the centre of the strait remains blocked by about 80 naval mines, he noted.

Navigation dispute deepens

Ship tracking data showed 42 cargo vessels crossed the strait on Thursday, down from a high of 57 on Wednesday. At least half of Thursday's traffic used the Oman corridor despite warnings from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which called the route unauthorised. An additional 29 commercial ships crossed by Friday afternoon, with 17 again hugging Oman's coast.

The IRGC insisted that only lanes designated by Iran are legitimate, and deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi warned that safe passage cannot rest on "ambiguous arrangements, parallel corridors or decisions that do not take into account Iran's role as a coastal state". Iranian state media reported that three foreign tankers were turned back after an IRGC warning.

Toll proposal raises alarm

Oman privately told European officials that the pre-war free-passage regime is gone and that ships may soon face service charges for pollution response or navigational assistance, sources said. Muscat is studying the fee systems used at other chokepoints like the Malacca Strait, but US, European and Gulf Arab officials worry it could open the door to a joint Iran-Oman toll regime. A joint statement from Washington and six Gulf states rejected any tolls or unilateral control.

Oil and regional reaction

Oil prices slid more than 3% on Friday as traders absorbed conflicting signals from the ceasefire breach and lower shipping traffic. In a notable development, Saudi Aramco resumed crude loadings at the Ras Tanura terminal, the world's largest oil-export port, after a nearly four-month halt. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, wrapping up a Gulf tour, warned that if Iran threatens or blocks ships, "we will have a problem".

Iran responded by calling the US military presence in the Gulf a source of insecurity and reiterated that the strait would be jointly administered by Iran and Oman under the ceasefire memo. Tehran's foreign ministry said the joint US-Gulf statement was "interventionist, irresponsible and provocative".