Weather 
Three commercial vessels came under attack in the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday, according to international news agencies, with the U.K. military and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard confirming two of the strikes on cargo ships, potentially jeopardizing efforts to resume peace talks between the U.S. and Iran.
The U.K. military’s Maritime Trade Operations Center (UKMTO) reported early Wednesday morning that an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps gun boat fired at a container ship 15 nautical miles northeast of Oman.
There was no radio warning before the boat “fired upon the vessel” causing “heavy damage to the bridge,” according to UKMTO, which said all crew members were reported to be safe.
Three hours later UKMTO reported a second incident, this time 8 nautical miles west of Iran’s coast at the eastern entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, in which a cargo ship said it was fired upon and was “now stopped in the water.”
The crew were “safe and accounted for” and there was no mention of the suspected source of the fire, UKMTO said, but suspicion immediately fell on Iran.
In a statement, Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said two vessels it accused of violating its blockade of the strait “had entered the area without proper authorization and allegedly tampered with their navigation systems, thereby endangering maritime safety.”
The IRGC said the ships were intercepted “and escorted to the Iranian coast.”
The Reuters and Associated Press news agencies and CBS News’ British partner network BBC said a third ship was hit by gunfire in the strait Wednesday, but UKMTO did not immediately confirm that attack.
Read more here.
