The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US-Iran memorandum of understanding was \u201centirely performance-based,\u201d warning that Tehran would see benefits only if it showed \u201cgood behaviour\u201d.<\/p>\n
But US negotiators were continuing to work \u201cin good faith towards a final deal\u201d, the official said.<\/p>\n
British maritime security agency UKMTO said an \u201cunknown projectile\u201d hit a tanker overnight, causing a fire, before two more vessels were struck, at least one by a drone.<\/p>\n
All three vessels were struck close to Oman, which had proposed a temporary transit corridor hugging its coastline \u2013 an initiative opposed by Iran as it seeks to impose fees on ships using the narrow waterway.<\/p>\n
Qatar said one of the vessels was its LNG tanker Al-Rekayyat and blamed Iran, denouncing an \u201cunacceptable\u201d attack on international maritime navigation.<\/p>\n
Doha later summoned Iran\u2019s deputy ambassador to lodge a complaint, demanding an explanation and urging Tehran to \u201cimmediately cease any practices undermining regional security\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hold Iran fully legally responsible for this attack and for any resulting damages or repercussions,\u201d Qatar\u2019s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari wrote on X.<\/p>\n
Iran voiced \u201cdismay\u201d over Qatar\u2019s accusations in a statement carried by state news agency IRNA, calling the claims \u201cunacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hormuz dispute<\/p>\n
The attacks, which ended more than a week of relative calm, revived concerns over freedom of navigation after Iran lifted its blockade of the vital waterway following a fragile ceasefire with the United States.<\/p>\n
Oil prices rose by more than 2% as the renewed attacks reignited worries over global energy supplies and cast doubt on the durability of the US-Iran agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are now in a sensitive period where potential alternatives to an Iranian toll or fee system are being explored,\u201d Andreas Krieg, a security expert at King\u2019s College London, told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cIran is sending a clear signal that no alternative will be accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Krieg said tankers trying to diverge through the Omani maritime corridor without registering with Iran would be punished, and called the attacks a \u201cclear violation\u201d of the ceasefire agreement and international law.<\/p>\n
Maritime traffic had tentatively resumed after Washington and Tehran signed the memorandum last month, but Iran has insisted there will be no return to pre-war arrangements, under which vessels could pass freely through the strait.<\/p>\n
Under the 14-point US-Iran memorandum, Iran and Oman, which border Hormuz, must hold talks \u201cto define the future administration and maritime services\u201d in the waterway with other Gulf states.<\/p>\n
Qatar had previously refused to mediate under Iranian fire as Tehran launched an unprecedented aerial bombardment against Gulf states in retaliation for the US-Israeli strikes.<\/p>\n
But Doha has since taken a more active role, hosting indirect talks between Iran and the United States last week.<\/p>\n
– AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US-Iran memorandum of understanding was \u201centirely performance-based,\u201d warning that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[74,6127,1344,5660,3088,6384,3806,13574,68667,8223,305,42,168436,16609,1743,1739,10110,647,43,90,17216,3048,72212,20263,9939,14042,19063,1361,1529,40,38,41,39,9938,3040,48471,6149,3608],"class_list":["post-516217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-after","tag-already","tag-attacked","tag-attacks","tag-commercial","tag-confrontation","tag-east","tag-efforts","tag-escalating","tag-forces","tag-have","tag-headlines","tag-hormuz","tag-iran","tag-launched","tag-launches","tag-middle","tag-military","tag-news","tag-on","tag-powerful","tag-said","tag-shaken","tag-sharply","tag-states","tag-strait","tag-strikes","tag-that","tag-three","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-united","tag-us","tag-vessels","tag-war","tag-were"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}