Strait of Hormuz ship hit as US and Iran clash over talks
A cargo ship was struck in the Strait of Hormuz as Washington and Tehran disputed whether talks had resumed. The incident sharpened fears over regional shipping security, while Gaza prepared to bury victims recovered from a 2023 airstrike.
A cargo ship reported being struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, even as the United States and Iran gave conflicting accounts on whether they had resumed talks linked to the war and shipping in the region.
In another major development, Gaza residents were expected to hold a mass funeral on Tuesday for 112 Palestinians whose bodies were recovered from the rubble of a 2023 Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said the cargo ship reported being "hit by an unknown projectile" at 2 am local time while it was 37 kilometres northeast of Al Khasab in Oman. The agency did not identify the ship, say which flag it was sailing under, or state whether it was carrying cargo.
Al Khasab lies at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula along the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas passed before the war. The strait has effectively been shut by Iran's attacks on shipping since the war began in February, while the US has also imposed a blockade on Iranian ports in the waterway.
On the diplomatic front, US President Donald Trump said on Monday that talks with Iran had resumed, a day after saying he had called off massive strikes he had threatened against the country. He said he stepped back at the urging of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. "Whether Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking," Trump said.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Monday that no negotiations were being held with the US. He said Tehran was only talking with Oman and that the discussions were focused on establishing a route for safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump, expressing frustration, wrote on Truth Social: "Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous!" He added: "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'."
In Gaza, residents were expected to hold a mass funeral for 112 Palestinians whose bodies were recovered after nearly three years under the rubble in Gaza City's Sabra neighbourhood. They were among more than 300 people killed on November 22, 2023, when Israeli warplanes flattened a residential block there.
First responders recovered the bodies over the weekend after digging through the rubble for 136 hours, according to the Civil Defence, a rescue agency under Gaza's Hamas-run Interior Ministry. The agency said the dead included 40 children, 30 women and seven people with disabilities, and added that another 157 people were still missing under the rubble.
The Gaza war began on October 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. The ministry's figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but the United Nations and other international organisations consider them generally reliable. Overall, Tuesday's developments centred on tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, the dispute over US-Iran contacts, and fresh mourning in Gaza over victims of the 2023 strike.
With PTI Inputs
A cargo ship reported being struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, even as the United States and Iran gave conflicting accounts on whether they had resumed talks linked to the war and shipping in the region.
In another major development, Gaza residents were expected to hold a mass funeral on Tuesday for 112 Palestinians whose bodies were recovered from the rubble of a 2023 Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said the cargo ship reported being "hit by an unknown projectile" at 2 am local time while it was 37 kilometres northeast of Al Khasab in Oman. The agency did not identify the ship, say which flag it was sailing under, or state whether it was carrying cargo.
Al Khasab lies at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula along the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas passed before the war. The strait has effectively been shut by Iran's attacks on shipping since the war began in February, while the US has also imposed a blockade on Iranian ports in the waterway.
On the diplomatic front, US President Donald Trump said on Monday that talks with Iran had resumed, a day after saying he had called off massive strikes he had threatened against the country. He said he stepped back at the urging of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. "Whether Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking," Trump said.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Monday that no negotiations were being held with the US. He said Tehran was only talking with Oman and that the discussions were focused on establishing a route for safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump, expressing frustration, wrote on Truth Social: "Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous!" He added: "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'."
In Gaza, residents were expected to hold a mass funeral for 112 Palestinians whose bodies were recovered after nearly three years under the rubble in Gaza City's Sabra neighbourhood. They were among more than 300 people killed on November 22, 2023, when Israeli warplanes flattened a residential block there.
First responders recovered the bodies over the weekend after digging through the rubble for 136 hours, according to the Civil Defence, a rescue agency under Gaza's Hamas-run Interior Ministry. The agency said the dead included 40 children, 30 women and seven people with disabilities, and added that another 157 people were still missing under the rubble.
The Gaza war began on October 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. The ministry's figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but the United Nations and other international organisations consider them generally reliable. Overall, Tuesday's developments centred on tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, the dispute over US-Iran contacts, and fresh mourning in Gaza over victims of the 2023 strike.
With PTI Inputs
A cargo ship reported being struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, even as the United States and Iran gave conflicting accounts on whether they had resumed talks linked to the war and shipping in the region.
In another major development, Gaza residents were expected to hold a mass funeral on Tuesday for 112 Palestinians whose bodies were recovered from the rubble of a 2023 Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said the cargo ship reported being "hit by an unknown projectile" at 2 am local time while it was 37 kilometres northeast of Al Khasab in Oman. The agency did not identify the ship, say which flag it was sailing under, or state whether it was carrying cargo.
Al Khasab lies at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula along the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas passed before the war. The strait has effectively been shut by Iran's attacks on shipping since the war began in February, while the US has also imposed a blockade on Iranian ports in the waterway.
On the diplomatic front, US President Donald Trump said on Monday that talks with Iran had resumed, a day after saying he had called off massive strikes he had threatened against the country. He said he stepped back at the urging of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. "Whether Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking," Trump said.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Monday that no negotiations were being held with the US. He said Tehran was only talking with Oman and that the discussions were focused on establishing a route for safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump, expressing frustration, wrote on Truth Social: "Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous!" He added: "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'."
In Gaza, residents were expected to hold a mass funeral for 112 Palestinians whose bodies were recovered after nearly three years under the rubble in Gaza City's Sabra neighbourhood. They were among more than 300 people killed on November 22, 2023, when Israeli warplanes flattened a residential block there.
First responders recovered the bodies over the weekend after digging through the rubble for 136 hours, according to the Civil Defence, a rescue agency under Gaza's Hamas-run Interior Ministry. The agency said the dead included 40 children, 30 women and seven people with disabilities, and added that another 157 people were still missing under the rubble.
The Gaza war began on October 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. The ministry's figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but the United Nations and other international organisations consider them generally reliable. Overall, Tuesday's developments centred on tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, the dispute over US-Iran contacts, and fresh mourning in Gaza over victims of the 2023 strike.
With PTI Inputs
