Commercial shipping traffic was trickling through the Strait of Hormuz Saturday as US allies in the Gulf strongly condemned an Iranian drone strike on Bahrain.
The United Arab Emirates slammed the attack “in the strongest terms” while Kuwait, which houses major US bases, called it a “threat to the security and stability of the region.”
The foreign ministry of Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, denounced it as “a flagrant violation of Bahrain’s sovereignty.”
A tanker in the strait was also struck by a projectile, according to the UK’s Maritime Trade Operations. It said the ship was damaged but the crew were unharmed.
Ten commercial ships had passed through the critical waterway, Fox reported as of Saturday morning.
But tensions have again flared in the region after an Iranian drone strike Thursday on a Singapore-flagged cargo ship along the coast of Oman prompted US military attacks on Iranian targets.
A US maritime body overseen by the military said it was expanding a route along Oman. That move was seen as more brushback to Tehran, which inked a Memorandum of Understanding with the US where both sides agreed the strait would remain open for 60 days toll-free.
The body called the current threat level “substantial.”
On Friday ,the US executed a “powerful response” to Iran’s attack on the M/V Ever Lovely as the ship transited the strait a day earlier, attacking Iranian missile and drone storage locations as well as coastal radar, Central Command said Friday.
“The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire,” CENTCOM said.
“Furthermore, Iran’s dangerous behavior undermined freedom of navigation as commerce increasingly flows through the vital international trade corridor.”
Vice President JD Vance, who was in Switzerland for Iran talks with the Tehran on Monday, vowed Friday evening that violence by the Iranians would not continue
“Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honored it. If they have disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone,”he said.
“But violence will be met with violence.”
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