Strait of Hormuz tanker hit by projectile off Oman, raising Iran tensions

Dubai,UPDATED: Jul 7, 2026 08:38 IST

A tanker moving through the Strait of Hormuz caught fire early Tuesday after it was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman, according to the British military. The strike is the latest attack on a vessel in the narrow waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, a key route for global oil and gas trade.

Suspicion immediately fell on Iran, which has been accused of attacking ships using routes close to the Omani coast even after warning vessels that only its approved route was safe. The incident comes as the US seeks to continue negotiations with Iran on fully reopening the strait, rolling back Tehran's disputed nuclear programme and bringing the war launched on February 28 to a permanent end, though the talks appear to be on hold until after the burial of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said the tanker was struck near Limah in Oman while travelling south out of the strait towards the Gulf of Oman. It said the projectile hit the port side of the vessel, adding that there was no environmental impact and that authorities were investigating the incident.

Last Thursday, Iran's joint military command warned that all oil tankers moving through the strait must use its approved routes. The statement said, "Any failure to comply, deviation from the designated route, or disregard for the navigation protocols of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz will be met with an immediate and forceful response from the armed forces, endangering the security of the violating vessels." It also said that interference by US forces in the strait "will be met with a rapid and decisive reaction."

Iran and the United States had agreed under an interim deal to allow ships to pass without charges for 60 days. However, Tehran insisted that it must control vessel routes and later levy passage fees, breaking with decades of practice in the waterway. The US and many Gulf Arab states have said they will not accept Iran charging for passage through the strait. Earlier efforts by Oman and a United Nations agency to open a new route near Oman's shore had triggered attacks across the Middle East. Data firm Kpler said at least 108 ships crossed the strait over the weekend using different routes.

The attack also comes amid tensions around Khamenei's funeral. AP reported that previous attacks in the strait had led to retaliatory US strikes, followed by Iranian attacks on Gulf Arab states, raising the risk of escalation. Khamenei was killed at the start of the war, and authorities flew his body overnight to the Shiite seminary city of Qom, where mourners paid tribute on Tuesday. Iranian state television aired live helicopter images of hundreds of thousands of people walking towards Jamkaran Mosque, south of Qom, for the funeral service.

Images of Khamenei and his son, Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, were displayed on banners and posters carried by mourners. Mojtaba Khamenei has not yet appeared at the funeral ceremonies, which are being held over several days, and is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father. Before an April ceasefire, Israel had targeted senior Iranian leaders during the war, in at least one case likely using a public appearance to pin down their location, and it has also threatened to kill the younger Khamenei. Streets, airspace and daily life have been shut down for the mourning period, which began on Saturday and will continue until Thursday, when Khamenei is to be buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace. He was 86.

The strike on the tanker, the dispute over shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz and the funeral of Khamenei have together kept tensions high in the region as diplomatic efforts between Iran and the US remain paused.

With PTI Inputs

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