Iran attacks ships in Strait of Hormuz, complicating efforts to resume talks

But Trump said the US would continue to blockade Iranian ports, and the attacks heightened dangers to traffic in the strait, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas passes in peacetime.

That means that even if the ceasefire largely holds – and Iran and the US do not resume major attacks – the war will continue to weigh heavily on the global economy.

The conflict has already caused gas prices to skyrocket far beyond the region and increased the cost of food and a wide range of other products. The longer the strait remains closed, the more severe and widespread the consequences will be – and the longer it will take for the economy to recover.

Iran has not formally recognized Trump’s extension, but an Iranian diplomat said talks will not resume until the blockade is lifted.

Three ships are attacked in the Strait of Hormuz

Iran opened fire on a container ship in the strait on Wednesday morning, and a second was attacked a short time later, according to the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre.

Iranian state television later reported that the ships had been taken into custody by the Revolutionary Guards and taken to Iran. It identified the ships as the MSC Francesca and the Epaminodes. The ship’s owners were not immediately available for comment.

The seizures represent an escalation by Iran’s leaders, who are poised to strike a tougher deal with U.S. negotiators after two other rounds of talks with the Trump administration ended in open war.

The semi-official news agencies Nour News, Fars and Mehr subsequently reported that the Guard had attacked a third ship, the Euphoria. They said the ship was “stranded” on the Iranian coast, without elaborating.

The UKMTO said the first ship was attacked by a Revolutionary Guard gunboat, which did not greet the ship before firing. It added that no one was injured in the attack.

However, Iran’s Nour News reported that the Guards only opened fire on the ship after it “ignored the warnings of the Iranian forces.” Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency described the attack as Iran “lawfully enforcing” its control over the Strait of Hormuz.

There have been more than 30 attacks on ships in the Middle East since the war began on February 28 with US and Israeli air strikes on Iran.

It is not clear when talks will resume

Iran’s ability to restrict traffic through the strait – which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean – has proven to be a major strategic advantage.

While the ceasefire means that US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran have stopped – and Tehran’s missiles are no longer aimed at Israel and the wider Middle East – the cross-strait strikes and previous US interdictions of Iranian ships show that the maritime threat remains.

Without any diplomatic agreement, these attacks could continue, likely deterring more ships from even attempting to transit the strait, further straining global energy supplies.

On Wednesday, Brent crude oil, the international standard, traded at more than $US98 ($137) a barrel, up 35 percent since the start of the war.

Iran appeared to dig in on Wednesday, with the Revolutionary Guard vowing to deliver “crushing blows beyond the enemy’s imagination to the remaining assets in the region.”

The night before, hardline supporters of Iran’s theocracy held rallies at which the Guard displayed missiles and launchers — a sign of defiance against Israel and the US, which has spent much of its airstrike campaign destroying the province’s ballistic missile arsenal.

It is not clear when talks can start again. Two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press that Islamabad is still waiting for word from Tehran on when it will send a delegation for another round. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, the head of Iran’s mission in Egypt, told The Associated Press that no delegation would go to Pakistan until the US lifts the blockade.

One dead in drone strike in Lebanon

In Lebanon, where a fight between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah broke out two days after the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran to start the war, the state-run National News Agency said an Israeli drone strike on the village of Jabbour in the morning killed one and injured two others.

The Israeli army denied attacking the area.

Several Israeli attacks have taken place since a 10-day ceasefire came into effect there on Friday, with Hezbollah claiming its first attack on Tuesday.

At least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran since the start of the war, according to authorities. More than 2,290 people have been killed in Lebanon, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen in the Arab Gulf states.

Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and thirteen American soldiers across the region have been killed.

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