A fire has broken out on board the vessel that was earlier reported to have been hit while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) has said.
Local authorities are on the scene and evacuating crew members, UKMTO said in an update.
An Iranian cargo vessel was struck early Sunday off Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, with one person killed and four wounded, Iranian state media said, a day before Tehran seeks to brief regional countries on its contested efforts to manage shipping traffic there.
(September 2, 2026)
The violence and torture that Israel inflicted on hundreds of flotilla volunteers this past spring, including severe beatings, repeated tasering, and sexual assault, has not deterred the FFC, just as Israel’s murder of 10 flotilla activists aboard the Mavi Marmara, in 2010 did not stop the movement. If anything, action is needed now more than ever. While much of the world has moved on from Gaza, believing a supposed “ceasefire” has ended the genocide, Israel continues to kill Palestinians in Gaza at will; use its blockade to restrict and manipulate the entry of the food, medicine, and fuel that a besieged population depends on to survive; and deny Palestinians their fundamental right to freedom.
The new mission involves a port-to-port voyage throughout Europe, bringing together human rights advocates, union activists, elected representatives, journalists, medical professionals, and other supporters of Palestinian freedom.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) has announced a new international effort to break Israel‘s blockade of Gaza, with ships sailing between European ports before a planned attempt to reach the besieged Palestinian territory in October.
The FFC said its latest mission would go ahead despite the violence and torture meted out to flotilla volunteers on previous attempts, including severe beatings, repeated tasering and sexual assault.
The United States military said Saturday its forces struck three Iranian crude oil carriers after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles toward two US Navy warships.
The fresh exchanges threaten to heighten a shipping war in and beyond the Persian Gulf, as Iran seeks to prevent shipping transiting the Strait of Hormuz without its consent and the US steps up targeting of Iranian shipping.
Cuba denounced on Friday the impact of the US blockade on human rights, just days before the presentation of the report by Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan to the United Nations.
According to Alejandro González, Director of International Organizations at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the report on the negative repercussions of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights in the Caribbean nation will be presented in Geneva on September 8 and 9.
“There are foreign companies that have yielded to this pressure and have withdrawn from the country. Others remain and continue working with us,” the Deputy Prime Minister stated.
According to Pérez-Oliva, the intensification of the blockade has severed Cuba’s banking and financial relations with numerous institutions and imposes a trade embargo through direct threats against international shipping companies.
The Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment explained that Cuba has containers being held in international ports because some shipping companies have suspended services to the island, while others are operating under “restrictions imposed illegally and unilaterally by the United States.”
Das von der Trump-Regierung verschärfte Öl-Embargo bezeichnet Lianys Torres Rivera, Kubas ranghöchste Diplomatin in den Vereinigten Staaten als „Krieg ohne Bomben“. Indes hat die CIA ihre Operation im Land ausgeweitet – ähnlich wie vor dem Venezuela-Angriff.
US Vice President JD Vance told reporters on Thursday that the United States does not plan to hold talks with Iran unless Tehran stops attacking commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
„They‘ve got to stop. It‘s that simple,“ he said.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Thursday that its forces had redirected 87 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two under Washington‘s blockade against Iran in regional waters as of Sept. 3.
(September 1, 2026)
The U.S. military attacked two Iranian government tankers as part of the round of strikes that took place on Tuesday, U.S. officials said.
Why it matters: This is the first time the U.S. military has struck Iranian tankers in retaliation for Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz — rather than to prevent them from violating the naval blockade.
It appears that keeping the Strait of Hormuz open is the main goal of the United States.
What we also know is that the wider strategy – based on the military activity that has occurred in the last week – involves preventing Iran from blocking shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Kingdom strongly condemned the targeting of the vessel by Iran and expressed its rejection of Iranian attacks against Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.
“The Kingdom also condemns the Iranian attacks targeting Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait, and affirms its full support and solidarity with the brotherly countries in the measures they take to protect their security and sovereignty from any threat,” the ministry said in a statement.
Two Filipino sailors were killed in an attack on an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, Saudi Arabia‘s national shipping company Bahri said on Wednesday.
„Bahri confirms that its vessel SIDR was involved in a security incident while transiting the Strait of Hormuz“ on the evening of 31 August, the carrier said on X, confirming „the loss of its two Filipino seafarers as a result“ of the attack.
Oil prices surged Tuesday following U.S. military action against Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz, a retaliatory move after Tehran launched overnight attacks on vessels passing through the waterway.
A naval blockade imposed by the United States on Iran has effectively halted Iranian crude oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz for nearly seven consecutive weeks. This unprecedented development has suspended all new petroleum shipments to China, the primary remaining buyer of Iranian oil, according to data and market tracking reports cited by Reuters.
(Updated 6 hours ago)
Two supertankers carrying Saudi oil were struck by unknown projectiles within minutes of each other while transiting outbound through the Strait of Hormuz late on Monday, according to shipping intelligence and tracking firms Marisks and Kpler.
„The near-simultaneous incidents represent a further escalation in the threat environment within the Omani corridor,“ Marisks said.
(August 26, 2026)
During a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Cuban Representative to the UN Ernesto Soberón Guzmán spoke about the link between peace and global food stability.
(August 26, 2026)
The Cuban government, in a statement to the Security Council on Tuesday, August 25, warned against the use of hunger as a weapon of war and argued that conflicts, economic inequalities and unilateral coercive measures were aggravating global food insecurity.
Havana specifically linked the worsening food situation in Cuba to the impact of the United States’ economic, commercial and financial restrictions, which it refers to as a blockade.
The intervention came only days after Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez launched a fresh attack on Washington over new sanctions imposed on Cuban state entities and officials, accusing the administration of US President Donald Trump of deliberately squeezing the Cuban economy and undermining the government’s capacity to provide basic services.
Rodríguez said the latest measures were particularly affecting the movement of containers carrying food, medicines and medical equipment, including supplies acquired by Cuba’s private micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
The on-again, off-again conflict, characterized by tit-for-tat retaliatory strikes, is a lose-lose situation for both parties and for the region as a whole, yet we are unlikely to escape this tragic dynamic unless more realist strategic thinking prevails in both Washington and Tehran. Neither side can “win” this war, but they can cut their losses before they incur even higher human, financial, and military costs. The realist school of thought offers a compelling diagnosis of this conflict, and points the way to a mutually beneficial conclusion.
The Sultanate of Oman and Japan underlined the importance of reaching a final agreement and a political solution to reduce tensions in the region.
They also called for intensified international efforts to ensure freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with international law and to maintain the smooth flow of maritime transport and energy supplies.
This was stated during a joint press conference held at the Foreign Ministry by Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.
The Omani and Japanese foreign ministers have emphasised the need to intensify international efforts to ensure the freedom of maritime navigation in the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with international law.
Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi met Motegi Toshimitsu in Muscat.
(July 14, 2026)
“One issue demands immediate attention. As widely reported, complex discussions are currently being held with the aim of devising a long-term arrangement for freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. As one of the two states with territorial waters in the Strait, Oman has a special responsibility to work with both Iran – which is the other state whose territorial waters include part of the Strait – and the wider international community of Strait users to find a practical, durable and legal arrangement for free navigation. The international community needs a successful outcome from these consultations; free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz is vital for the global economy
“Our negotiations with Oman are ongoing. That is a completely separate matter. It is a technical issue concerning the designation of maritime routes in the Strait of Hormuz for the passage of ships.”
“The routes that existed previously are no longer functional, so a new route needs to be defined. For now, we are designing a temporary route, which can then, at a later stage, be turned into a final route.”
“We may reach an outcome soon, but I want to emphasise that these negotiations and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz are two separate issues. This is a technical negotiation concerning the designation of a maritime route.”
(July 28, 2026)
Under the Omani proposal, which has regional backing and was presented to Iranian officials over the weekend in Tehran, Iran would not exercise sole control over the strait, the source added.
The proposal is based on the Strait of Malacca, which connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans and is jointly managed by the states bordering it: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Vice President JD Vance discusses how the GOP can combat socialist support on ‘The Will Cain Show.
Vance‘s comments also underscored the growing reality that the war now centers on control of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has forced to the top of the negotiating agenda.
„I know that oil is down today and it‘s way down from the highs in the early days of the conflict,“ Vance said on Fox News. „That‘s goal number one — keep oil and gas cheap for Americans all over our country.“
„And then obviously goal number two is ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon,“ he added.
The vice president has been among the members of the administration most skeptical of the offensive launched against Iran in late February.
Asked about the setbacks in negotiations with Iran, Vance cited two factors: “Number one, the Iranians are extraordinarily difficult people. Number two, they have a fractured system.”
“There are people within their system that want the war to be over and there are also people in their system that are crazy radicals who want the war to continue,” he said.
“Our job is to navigate through that and get the best outcome for the American people and for the President of the United States as well.”
Fox News host Will Cain pressed Vice President JD Vance on Thursday about the war in Iran, arguing that “frustration” is growing over the “seesaw nature” of the ongoing conflict.
“Let’s talk for a minute about Iran. There is frustration, Mr. Vice President, I think, out there on the seesaw nature of what’s going on in Iran,” Cain began, asking:
Wenn GECOMEX keine derartigen Maschinen und Ausrüstung importieren kann, sind seine Tochtergesellschaften nicht in der Lage, Agrarrohstoffe wie Weizen und Bohnen effizient zu verarbeiten. Dies führt wiederum dazu, dass weniger Grundnahrungsmittel ihren Weg in die kubanischen Haushalte finden.
Die Sanktionen gegen den Hafenbetreiber GEMAR sind noch gravierender: Sie verursachen Compliance-Risiken für jedes Schifffahrtsunternehmen, das Liegegebühren in Kuba zahlt. Mehr als 7.000 Container mit Bestimmungsort Havanna sind daher aktuell in der Karibik gestrandet, nachdem Unternehmen wie Hapag-Lloyd und CMA CGM aufgrund der rechtlichen Unsicherheit ihre Aktivitäten in Kuba vorerst eingestellt haben.
In July, the US State Department announced a round of broad economic sanctions against Cuba targeting industries that have historically been spared, limiting the Cuban government’s ability to purchase agricultural commodities and food processing equipment from third countries by singling out Cuba’s state importer (GECOMEX) and port operator (GEMAR).
This is happening in the context of America’s monthslong oil blockade against Cuba, which has already immiserated the general population by impeding basic sanitation and food safety and has killed scores of patients in Cuban hospitals. A US congressional delegation that visited in early July described the situation on the ground as a “silent Gaza.”
(June 8, 2026)
The U.S. declaration of a national emergency in January disrupted fuel shipments to Cuba, severely reducing the country‘s fuel reserves by mid-May. This depletion has led to daily blackouts that now frequently exceed 20 hours. Additional sanctions were imposed in May, including some with extraterritorial effect on private entities, such as traders, insurers, tourism or shipping companies, financial institutions, and others involved in fuel supply or engaged with the country‘s energy, defence, mining, finance, and security sectors.
These measures, combined, are significantly affecting the population’s human rights, notably their access to essential supplies and services, including water, food and healthcare.
(August 12, 2026)
In a telephone conversation on Wednesday, Pezeshkian said Iran had never sought regional unrest and denounced the United States and the Israeli regime for undermining regional peace and stability through aggression against Iran and attacks that led to the martyrdom of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and a large number of civilians, including defenseless Minab children in their classrooms, as well as destroying civilian infrastructure.
Pezeshkian expressed hope that Japan’s diplomatic efforts to establish peace and stability in the region would bear fruit and prevent crimes and warmongering by aggressive powers.