Oil prices remained high as fighting resumed in and around the Strait of Hormuz after the latest US military intervention to protect ship traffic there upended a fragile ceasefire.
Iran’s foreign minister took aim at President Donald Trump “Project Freedom” — an initiative to deploy US military forces to escort stranded cargo ships through the narrow waterway — referring to it as “Project Deadlock,” while insisting there was no military solution to the war. His comments followed conflicting claims between Tehran and Washington over a series of attacks in the strait. Iran said it had struck a US vessel with two missiles on Monday to prevent the warship from entering the waterway; the US dismissed the assertion, and said it had targeted “small boats” as part of its efforts to reopen the chokepoint. An Iranian military official said the attacks, which killed five, had hit civilian goods vessels.
Meanwhile, the UAE and South Korea both reported strikes on ships in the strait on Monday. The UAE also said a fire broke out at the oil port of Fujairah following an Iranian attack, which Abu Dhabi called a “dangerous escalation,” warning it reserved the right to respond.