Cypriot-flagged ship ‘attacked’ in Strait of Hormuz

A Cypriot-flagged ship was “blatantly attacked” by Iranian forces while attempting to traverse the Strait of Hormuz, the United States’ defence department’s central command said on Sunday. It explained that US central command forces had “began launching the third round of strikes this week against Iran” in the early hours of Sunday morning “after Islamic revolutionary guards forces blatantly attacked M/V GFS Galaxy, a Cyprus-flagged container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz”. “A civilian crew member is missing and the vessel is unable to continue the journey due to an onboard fire and significant engine room damage,” it added. It said that Iran “was provided yet another opportunity to demonstrate adherence” to the agreement signed last month which many had hoped would bring to an end the conflict which broke out between the US and Iran in the spring, “but has again failed”, after having “been held accountable for earlier attacks on commercial vessels”. “In response, the United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait. The strikes are being carried out at the direction of the commander in chief,” it said, in reference to US President Donald Trump. Later on Sunday, Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis told the Cyprus News Agency that the shipping deputy ministry is investigating the matter, is “in communication with the ship’s management company”, and is “taking all appropriate actions”. “At the same time, we are closely monitoring developments,” he said. He added that the ship’s crew have been evacuated to “a neighbouring country”, the one missing crew member notwithstanding, and confirmed that none of the ship’s crew are Cypriot nationals. The Indian foreign ministry later confirmed that the missing crew member is an Indian national. “Passing through the Strait of Hormuz is particularly difficult for all ships, regardless of flag, especially under the conditions of last night’s military operations,” Letymbiotis said. Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint between the most northerly point of Oman and Iran’s southern coast, which provides the only seaborne access between the Persian Gulf and the open ocean, closed on Sunday amid ongoing US strikes against its facilities. The BBC quoted Iranian state media as having reported that the Iranian revolutionary guards had fired a naval cruise missile at a vessel which was “attempting to sail along an unapproved route”. The ship, it said, was “hit by warning shots and stopped”. Given the reignition of the conflict, last month’s deal appears to be in tatters, with US defence secretary Pete Hegseth having said that Iran “made a poor choice”, and that “now they pay”. Meanwhile, Iran has launched strikes on other states in the region, with drone and missile attacks reported in Jordan, Oman, and Qatar, though the United Arab Emirates reported that it was not reached by Iranian fire overnight.