Tanker hit in Strait of Hormuz as Tehran threatens to ditch talks over Trump’s threats

A Qatari liquified natural gas tanker was at risk of exploding Tuesday due to a fire in its engine room, a source briefed on the incident told the Reuters news agency, after the vessel was struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Al Rekayyat, and a Saudi-flagged crude oil tanker, were both damaged in or near the strait Tuesday after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards fired missiles at ships in the waterway overnight, sources told Reuters.

The U.K. navy’s Maritime Trade Operations center said earlier that the Qatari vessel had reported being hit by a projectile near Oman’s coast in the southern strait, but it did not provide any further detail.

The Al Rekayyat was loaded with liquefied natural gas (LNG) and sent out distress signals after being hit on its port side, one source told Reuters. 

A Saudi-flagged crude oil tanker was damaged near the Strait of Hormuz, according to sources quoted by the Reuters news agency, but the cause was unknown.

The vessel, believed to be the supertanker Wedyan, was damaged off Oman’s coast, the news agency reported, adding that the ship is owned and managed by Saudi shipping firm Bahri.

If confirmed, the Wedyan would be the second ship to sustain damage in the region on Tuesday. 

A Qatari tanker carrying liquefied natural gas was struck by a projectile as it transited the strait near Oman’s coast earlier in the day, according to the U.K. navy. 

Iran’s foreign minister said Tuesday that Tehran will not resume negotiations if threats continue, a day after President Trump said the U.S. would “finish the job” if no peace deal is struck.

In a social media post, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said neither the Iranian people nor the Islamic Republic’s military would be “moved by any threats,” without referencing Mr. Trump’s comments specifically.

“Negotiations on final Deal will not commence if threats continue,” Araghchi warned, citing the memorandum of understanding signed by President Trump and his Iranian counterpart in mid-June, which calls for both sides to “refrain from the threat or use of force against each other.” 

“Honor your signature,” added Araghchi.

A tanker traveling off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz caught on fire early Tuesday morning after being struck by a projectile, the British military said.

The attack was the latest targeting a vessel moving through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded once passed in peacetime. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault.

Tehran has repeatedly declared that only its approved route through the strait is safe and is suspected of attacking other ships that have used another route close to the Omani shore.

President Trump warned Iran Monday that the U.S. will either “make a deal or we’re going to finish the job.”

“I’d rather make a deal, because I don’t want to affect 91 million people,” Mr. Trump said. “We can knock down their bridges in one hour. We can knock out their energy supply.”

Talks between the U.S. and Iran were on hold for the funeral of Iran’s slain supreme leader who was killed by a U.S.-Iran strike in the opening moments of the war in February.

Authorities flew late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s coffin to the Shiite seminary city of Qom overnight, where more mourners have gathered to pay their respects.

Iranian state television early Tuesday aired live images from a helicopter of hundreds of thousands of people walking toward Jamkaran Mosque, just south of Qom, for a funeral service for the former supreme leader, who was killed in an Israeli or U.S. strike on Feb. 28, the first day of the war.

As the week-long funeral has gone on, mourners have increasingly called for Khamenei’s death to be avenged, holding signs and chanting for the killing of both President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Such signs were seen again Monday along the procession’s route.

“We are here to show that his path will continue, and every single one of these people will continue down his path with clenched fists, and soon we will certainly avenge his death against the U.S and Israel,” said mourner Sahar Zaraatgar.

U.S. federal authorities have been tracking Iranian threats against the president and other administration officials for years, stemming from Mr. Trump’s ordering the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani, who led Iran’s elite Quds Force. Iran has repeatedly denied plotting to kill Mr. Trump, though hardline propaganda video produced by the regime has long suggested he is in Tehran’s crosshairs.

Mr. Trump, meanwhile, promised to destroy Iran’s civilization during the war, among other threats.