Tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have surged in the past 24 hours, placing an already fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran under intense scrutiny. While the agreement, reached in early April, has so far prevented full-scale conflict, recent strikes, counterstrikes and sharp rhetoric are actively testing and redefining what the truce allows in practice.
In the last 24 hours, both Tehran and Washington have accused each other of escalating military activity in the Strait.
24-hour escalation full of strikes and disputed claims
The United Arab Emirates on Monday reported attacks on a major oil facility in Fujairah, its first since the ceasefire took effect. Iranian drones and missiles also targeted a UAE tanker, while a South Korean cargo vessel was reported damaged in a separate incident after an explosion and fire in the key Hormuz waterway.
Fujairah lies beyond the strait, making it one of few export routes for Middle East oil that does not require passing through it.
“These attacks represent a dangerous escalation and an unacceptable transgression,” the UAE’s foreign ministry said, adding that the country reserves the “right to respond”.
Meanwhile, a fire broke out on several commercial vessels in Iran’s southern port of Dayyer, Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency reported on Tuesday, adding that firefighting teams were working to contain the blaze.
“The cause of the incident is not yet known and will be announced after firefighting operations are fully completed,” the outlet added.
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Iran says attacks were in response to US actions
Meanwhile, a senior Iranian military official did not deny the fresh strikes but said on state television that Tehran had “no pre-planned programme to attack the oil facilities in question”.
“What happened was the product of the US military’s adventurism to create a passage for ships to illegally pass through” the Strait of Hormuz, the official said. “The US military must be held accountable for it”.
On Sunday, Trump had announced what he called “Project Freedom” to guide ships from neutral countries out of the Gulf, saying it was a humanitarian effort to help stranded crews.
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said in a social media post on Tuesday that the security of shipping and energy transit had been threatened by breaches of the four-week-old ceasefire by the US and its allies.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the clashes showed there was “no military solution to a political crisis” and pointed to Pakistan’s efforts to keep mediating.
“The US should be wary of being dragged back into quagmire by ill-wishers. So should the UAE. Project Freedom is Project Deadlock,” he wrote on X.
US responds
The US military responded with force on Monday, saying it destroyed six Iranian fast boats that it claimed threatened commercial and naval vessels, but Tehran denied any combat vessels had been hit and accused Washington of killing five civilians on boats.
Simultaneously, US Central Command said that guided-missile destroyers had transited Hormuz and that, as a first step “Project Freedom”, two US-flagged merchant vessels had travelled out.
But Iran’s Revolutionary Guards denied the claim, saying: “No commercial vessels or oil tankers have passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past few hours.”
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Trump: ‘no damage’ in Hormuz
President Donald Trump downplayed tensions after US warships entered the Strait of Hormuz, saying Iran had “taken some shots” but caused no harm apart from damage to a South Korean vessel.
