By Jack Phillips
Contributing Writer
A cargo ship that was transiting the Persian Gulf was struck by an “unknown projectile” that caused a large explosion, according to an organization run by the UK’s Royal Navy on Monday. The report came hours after the U.S. military said it struck targets inside Iran.
The UK Maritime Trade Organization said in an X post on Monday that it received a report of an incident about 40 nautical miles south of Umm Qasr, Iraq, in the Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf.
“A cargo vessel was transiting in the Arabian Gulf when a large explosion follow[ed] a hit from an unknown projectile on the starboard side,” the UKMTO wrote.
It stated that it was “unaware of any environmental impact” and that an investigation was underway.
Ships in the region are being advised by the UK group “to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO.” It provided no other details, including the ship’s name or whether any injuries were reported.
Since the start of the conflict between the United States and Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran has effectively shut down commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that links the Persian Gulf with the wider ocean and allows passage of roughly a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas on a normal day.
Iran has launched strikes against and has threatened commercial ships in the strait as well as elsewhere in the region, and it has asserted that it should have control over the strait and impose tolls.
A ceasefire was announced in mid-April, while the U.S. military has blockaded Iranian ports. But the truce between the two nations has been tested repeatedly in back-and-forth strikes even as both countries have indicated they want to negotiate a deal.
The latest incident comes as the U.S. military command said it launched strikes against Iranian radar and drone sites after Tehran said it shot down a U.S. military drone over the weekend.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Monday that it had “destroyed all predetermined targets” at an air base used by the U.S. military in response to a U.S. attack on southern Iran, according to state-run IRNA. U.S. military officials said on Monday that two ballistic missiles fired by Iran at the base in Kuwait were intercepted.
