Amid the brewing tensions in West Asia, the US military said that it had fired on an Iranian-flagged oil tanker on Wednesday.
Amid the brewing tensions in
West Asia, the US military said that it had fired on an Iranian-flagged oil tanker on Wednesday. The incident occurred shortly after US President Donald Trump issued a
fresh ultimatum to Tehran, warning the country to accept the deal to end the war or face a new wave of American bombing “at a much higher level and intensity than it was before”.
In a social media post on Wednesday, the
US Central Command said that the American side fired several rounds and “disabled the tanker’s rudder” as it attempted to breach the US’s blockade of Iranian ports. The attack also took place amid unconfirmed reports of progress being stalled in the negotiations between Iran and the United States.
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— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 6, 2026
“Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is perhaps a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end,” the US president posted on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday. He was referring to the military operation he launched with Israel against Iran in February. “If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before,” he furthered.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, who was to talk to Trump on Wednesday evening, said in a video released by his office that Israel was “prepared for all scenarios”. Amid the warnings, Iran’s most senior negotiator,
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, remained defiant on Wednesday, saying Washington was seeking Tehran’s surrender through various means, including a naval blockade.
Iran resists the pressure
Ghalibaf insisted that the United States is attempting to arm-twist Iran into a peace deal. “The enemy, in its new design, is seeking, through a naval blockade, economic pressure and media manipulation, to destroy the country’s cohesion in order to force us to surrender,” Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, said in a voice message published on his official Telegram channel.
Earlier on Wednesday, Axios reported that Washington and Tehran were close to agreeing on a
one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war. The American news outlet reported that Washington expected Tehran to respond to several key points in the memo within the next 48 hours.
Meanwhile, officials in Pakistan told The Guardian that an initial framework could possibly be agreed within 48 hours, but that nothing was certain and that talks remained “difficult”. On Tuesday, Trump had abruptly ordered an indefinite pause to a naval effort to guide stranded commercial ships through the
Strait of Hormuz.
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It is pertinent to note that more than 800 ships and roughly 20,000 crew members remain stranded west of the narrow waterway. In the midst of the blockade, Iran has also threatened to deploy mines, drones, missiles and fast-attack craft, making passage through the strait too risky for commercial shipping and raising fuel prices around the world.
Trump wrote on social media that the decision to halt the new naval effort, called
Project Freedom, just a day after it began, came after requests from “mediator Pakistan and other countries”. He posted: “Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement.” He maintained that Washington’s blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place. Hence, the tensions between the two countries continue to remain ripe.
First Published:
May 07, 2026, 05:43 IST
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