{"id":99162,"date":"2026-05-05T17:54:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T17:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/99162\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T17:54:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T17:54:24","slug":"iran-ceasefire-remains-in-effect-u-s-says-as-tehran-blamed-for-strait-of-hormuz-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/99162\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran ceasefire remains in effect, U.S. says, as Tehran blamed for Strait of Hormuz attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A container ship sits at anchor as a small motorboat passes in the foreground in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Saturday.Amirhosein Khorgooi\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

U.S. military leaders said Tuesday that a ceasefire with Iran remains in effect a day after Tehran was blamed for new attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and against the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

The fragile truce, reached nearly a month ago, appeared to be holding as U.S. forces pressed ahead with efforts to reopen the vital waterway for global energy. On Monday, the U.S. said it sank six small Iranian boats that had threatened commercial ships.<\/p>\n

So far, only two merchant ships are known to have passed through a new U.S.-guarded route, with hundreds more bottled up in the Persian Gulf. It\u2019s unclear whether continued U.S. military action will reassure shippers without reigniting the conflict that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n

How the conflict in Iran is reshaping how the world sources its oil<\/a><\/p>\n

The UAE, a key American ally, said it came under attack by Iranian missiles and drones for a second straight day on Tuesday. At least three people were wounded in attacks the day before, and a drone sparked a fire at a key oil facility in the eastern emirate of Fujairah.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s effective closure of the strait, through which major oil and gas supplies passed before the war, along with fertilizer and other petroleum-derived products, has sent fuel prices skyrocketing and rattled the global economy. Breaking Iran\u2019s grip would deny its main source of leverage as U.S. President Donald Trump demands a major rollback of its disputed nuclear program.<\/p>\n

Iran says new U.S. effort violates ceasefire<\/p>\n

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the U.S. military\u2019s top officer, told a news conference Tuesday that Iran\u2019s renewed aggression hadn\u2019t reached the threshold of what Caine called \u201cmajor combat operations.\u201d He said Tuesday marked a \u201cquieter\u201d day in the strait.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, the ceasefire is not over,\u201d Hegseth said, affirming Caine\u2019s assessment. They spoke before the latest attacks on the UAE.<\/p>\n

Iran has said the new effort does violate the ceasefire. Iran\u2019s parliament speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, accused the U.S. of undermining regional security. In a post on X, he signalled that Iran has yet to fully respond to the U.S. attempt to reopen the waterway.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know full well that the continuation of the status quo is intolerable for America; while we have not even begun yet,\u201d he said. His statement did not mention negotiations with the U.S. that are now in the form of passing messages via Pakistan.<\/p>\n

Iran retaliates after Trump launches campaign to break Strait of Hormuz blockade<\/a><\/p>\n

Disputing Washington\u2019s claim of sinking six boats, an Iranian military commander said two small civilian cargo boats were hit on Monday, killing five civilians, Iran\u2019s state TV reported.<\/p>\n

Caine, the top U.S. general who serves as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said more than 100 U.S. military aircraft are patrolling skies around the strait.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the ceasefire was announced, Iran has fired at commercial vessels nine times and seized two container ships, and they\u2019ve attacked U.S. forces more than 10 times \u2013 all below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point,\u201d Caine said.<\/p>\n

The administration has cited the April 8 ceasefire in asserting that the president does not have to give a formal update to Congress on the war under the War Powers Resolution. That law typically requires presidents to seek formal approval from Congress for war activities 60 days after beginning military action.<\/p>\n

Shippers remain wary<\/p>\n

So far, just two civilian vessels, both U.S.-flagged merchant ships, are known to have passed through the strait as part of the lane the U.S. says it has created.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point in time our risk assessment remains unchanged,\u201d Hamburg, Germany-based shipping company Hapag-Lloyd AG said in a statement. \u201cTransits through the Strait of Hormuz are for the moment not possible for our ships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ship tracking data showed a Panamanian-flagged crude oil tanker heading toward the centre of the strait Tuesday after leaving an anchorage in the Persian Gulf, though it was unclear if it would try to pass through. The tanker had a stated destination of Singapore, according to the MarineTraffic ship tracking site.<\/p>\n

Analysis: Both sides have weaponized the impasse in the Iran war<\/a><\/p>\n

Iran has attacked ships that try to transit without going through its own route in the northern part of the narrow strait near the Iranian coastline. That involves going through vetting by Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard and payment in some cases.<\/p>\n

The U.S.-approved \u201cProject Freedom\u201d route goes through territorial waters of Oman to the south.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor shipping companies and for insurance companies, they still have to wait and see how this plays out,\u201d said Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Middle East analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis initiative alone isn\u2019t something that looks like it\u2019s going to open the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

An Iranian demonstrator waves a flag of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group under an anti-U.S. billboard depicting the American aircrafts in the Iranian armed forces fishing net with signs that read in Farsi: ‘The Strait of Hormuz will remain closed, The entire Persian Gulf is our hunting ground,’ at Enqelab-e-Eslami square in Tehran, Monday.Vahid Salemi\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

UAE bore the brunt of Iran\u2019s retaliation<\/p>\n

The United Arab Emirates said its air defences had engaged 15 missiles and four drones fired by Iran. Authorities in the eastern emirate of Fujairah said one drone sparked a fire at a key oil facility, wounding three Indian nationals. The British military reported two cargo vessels ablaze off the UAE, also on Monday.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the UAE\u2019s Defence Ministry said air defences were responding to another Iranian drone and missile attack.<\/p>\n

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday condemned the attacks, calling the targeting of civilians and infrastructure \u201cunacceptable.\u201d On X, Modi said India stands in \u201cfirm solidarity\u201d with the UAE, and stressed the need for safe and uninterrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

Tehran did not confirm or deny the attacks but Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi early Tuesday said on X that both the U.S. and the UAE \u201cshould be wary of being dragged back into quagmire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia condemned the strikes against the UAE. The Saudi condemnation came despite increasingly strained relations with the UAE.<\/p>\n

Strait of Hormuz closure has far-reaching consequences<\/p>\n

The disruption of the waterway has squeezed countries in Europe and Asia that depend on Persian Gulf oil and gas, raising prices far beyond the region.<\/p>\n

The U.S. meanwhile has enforced a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, telling at least 49 commercial ships to turn back, according to its Central Command. It also has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions if they pay Iran for transit of the strait.<\/p>\n

The blockade has deprived Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy. U.S. officials have expressed hope the blockade will force Iran to make concessions in talks on its nuclear program and other longstanding issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A container ship sits at anchor as a small motorboat passes in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[950,936,951,158,928,952,949,927,942,943,939,929,926,147,948,703,941,934,963,930,931,394,34,937,938,674,953,345,958,959,961,956,960,954,957,932,945,946,81,944,955,935,947,69,462,940,933,82,962],"class_list":{"0":"post-99162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tehran","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-iran","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-northwest-territories","39":"tag-nova-scotia","40":"tag-nunavut","41":"tag-ontario","42":"tag-pei","43":"tag-photos","44":"tag-political-news","45":"tag-political-opinion","46":"tag-politics","47":"tag-politics-news","48":"tag-quebec","49":"tag-sports-news","50":"tag-technology","51":"tag-tehran","52":"tag-travel","53":"tag-trudeau","54":"tag-us-news","55":"tag-world-news","56":"tag-yukon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}