Tanker set ablaze after being struck by projectile in Hormuz

A tanker traveling off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz caught on fire early Tuesday morning after being struck by a projectile, the British military said.

The attack was the latest targeting a vessel moving through the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf, through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded once passed in peacetime. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault.

Tehran has repeatedly declared that only its approved route through the strait is safe and is suspected of attacking other ships that have used another route close to the Omani shore.

The US is eager to press ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed at fully reopening the strait, rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme and reaching a permanent end to the war launched Feb. 28. But previous attacks in the strait have sparked retaliatory strikes by the US, which then saw Iran attack Gulf Arab states - raising the risk of an escalation.

Tugboats guide the crude oil tanker Odessa, carrying UAE crude after passing through the Strait of Hormuz with its Automatic Identification System transponder turned off, navigates the waters at Daesan port, where it is expected to discharge crude oil, in Seosan, South Korea. File/Reuters

Talks between Iran and the US, meanwhile, appear to be on hold until after the burial of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the beginning of the war. Signs have been increasing that mourners at his funeral were calling for the death of US President Donald Trump.

Authorities flew Khamenei's body to the Shiite seminary city of Qom overnight, where mourners honored him Tuesday.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the tanker had been hit near Limah, Oman, in the strait. The UKMTO said the projectile hit the port side of the vessel while trying to traveling south out of the strait toward the Gulf of Oman.

It said there was no environmental impact from the strike and that authorities were investigating.

Iranian state TV, quoting anonymous sources, implied Tehran carried out the assault on a tanker it said was carrying natural gas from Qatar. However, there’s been no official claim from the Islamic Republic for the attack.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, on Monday. AP

Iran’s joint military command warned last Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the strait must use its approved routes. It also said that interference by US forces in the strait "will be met with a rapid and decisive reaction.”

But the Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational body overseen by the US Navy, told shippers on Monday that the route around Oman "has been expanded and remains available for all traffic.”

Trump on Monday at the White House also warned Iran that they'd need to "make a deal or we're going to finish the job.”

"I'd rather make a deal, because I don’t want to affect 91 million people," Trump said.

"We can knock down their bridges in one hour. We can knock out their energy supply.”

A man waves an Iranian flag for a pro-government campaign under a billboard with graphic showing Strait of Hormuz and sewn lips of US President Donald Trump in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran. File/AP

Iran and the United States agreed as part of an interim deal to allow ships to pass without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran insisted it must control the routes of the vessels and later charge fees for passage, upending decades of practice in the waterway.

The US and many Gulf Arab states say they won’t agree to Iran charging for passage through the strait. An effort by Oman and a United Nations agency to launch a new route near Oman’s shore earlier sparked attacks across the Mideast, highlighting the tensions.

Associated Press