DOHA (The Thursday Times) — Three oil tankers struck mines and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy was quoted as saying by Iranian media, as Qatar said the United States and Iran remained committed to talks and were reviewing proposals to bridge their differences.
The Guards said the vessels had entered unauthorised shipping lanes with their navigation and identification systems switched off, and were left burning off the southern coast of the strait. They warned ships against ignoring Iranian rules and cooperating with the US military to use unauthorised routes. The account has come from the Guards alone so far.
“Both parties remain committed to the negotiation process; as we mentioned, we are facilitating the real-time exchange of proposals between them,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told reporters in Doha. “We remain hopeful that there is still a chance for a deal to set the environment for future negotiations.”
He said the Qatari team that travelled to Tehran had returned to Doha, that talks were continuing, and that “intensive joint regional efforts” were under way to avoid escalation.
A senior Iranian official struck a harder note, saying the two sides remained far from a deal. “Tehran’s conditions must be met if the US wants Hormuz reopened,” the official said, speaking anonymously, adding that nuclear talks could start only after those conditions were met and that Iran would respond forcefully to US strikes.
The exchange comes hours after US forces struck Iran’s Qeshm Island, in what US officials called defensive strikes on missiles used against American assets. The Guards also said they had downed a US MQ-9 drone and two Lucas drones near the strait.
Oil rose by about $1 on Tuesday, after falling more than 7% on Monday on hopes that diplomacy was making progress.
