US And Iran Escalate Strait Of Hormuz Tensions As UAE Reports Fujairah Attacks

Tensions in the Strait of Hormuz surged in the past 24 hours, placing an already fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran under intense scrutiny, as TRT World described a cycle of “recent strikes, counterstrikes and sharp rhetoric” that was “actively testing and redefining what the truce allows in practice.”

“Multiple commercial barges on fire in Iran's southern port of Dayyer, cause unclear: media [](https://subscribe”

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In the last 24 hours, Tehran and Washington accused each other of escalating military activity in the Strait, according to TRT World’s account of the dispute.

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The United Arab Emirates reported attacks on a major oil facility in Fujairah, its first since the ceasefire took effect, and TRT World said Iranian drones and missiles also targeted a UAE tanker.

TRT World added that a South Korean cargo vessel was reported damaged in a separate incident after an explosion and fire in the key Hormuz waterway.

The UAE foreign ministry said, “These attacks represent a dangerous escalation and an unacceptable transgression,” and added that the country reserves the “right to respond.”

TRT World also reported that a fire broke out on several commercial vessels in Iran’s southern port of Dayyer, citing Mehr News Agency and saying firefighting teams were working to contain the blaze.

TRT World reported that Iran said the strikes were in response to US actions, quoting a senior Iranian military official on state television who said Tehran had “no pre-planned programme to attack the oil facilities in question.”

The official told viewers that “What happened was the product of the US military's adventurism to create a passage for ships to illegally pass through” the Strait of Hormuz, and added, “The US military must be held accountable for it.”

Anadolu Ajansi

TRT World also described US President Donald Trump announcing what he called “Project Freedom” to guide ships from neutral countries out of the Gulf, saying it was a humanitarian effort to help stranded crews.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said in a social media post that the security of shipping and energy transit had been threatened by breaches of the four-week-old ceasefire by the US and its allies.

TRT World further quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying the clashes showed there was “no military solution to a political crisis” and pointing to Pakistan’s efforts to keep mediating.

In response, TRT World said the US military used force on Monday, saying it destroyed six Iranian fast boats that it claimed threatened commercial and naval vessels, while Tehran denied any combat vessels had been hit and accused Washington of killing five civilians on boats.

TRT World then reported that US Central Command said guided-missile destroyers had transited Hormuz and that, as a first step “Project Freedom”, two US-flagged merchant vessels had travelled out, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards denied the claim, saying: “No commercial vessels or oil tankers have passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past few hours.”

While the Strait of Hormuz dispute played out, multiple outlets described a separate incident in Iran’s southern port of Dayyer, where firefighting teams were trying to contain a blaze on commercial vessels.

TRT World said, “a fire broke out on several commercial vessels in Iran's southern port of Dayyer,” and reported Mehr News Agency as adding that firefighting teams were working to contain the blaze.

TRT World quoted Mehr’s wording that “The cause of the incident is not yet known and will be announced after firefighting operations are fully completed.”

Yeni Safak English similarly reported that “Fire broke out on several commercial vessels in Iran's southern port of Dayyer,” and said firefighting teams were working to contain the blaze with the cause “not yet known.”

Anadolu Ajansı also repeated Mehr’s formulation, stating that “The cause of the incident is not yet known and will be announced after firefighting operations are fully completed,” and framed the report as coming amid ongoing tensions in the region and the Strait of Hormuz.

El Mundo America added operational detail from the port, saying the fire was reported by the port’s fire department chief, Majid Omrani, and that the fire started on two merchant ships and spread to two wooden barges in the port of Dayyer, located in the southern province of Bushehr.

El Mundo America also described the firefighting effort as ongoing, saying “firefighting teams are trying to control the fire,” while the cause remained unknown.

The Dayyer fire and the Hormuz confrontation were reported alongside competing claims about navigation and civilian harm, with officials and European institutions weighing in on the broader escalation.

El Mundo America said Iran accused the United States of endangering navigation security in the Strait of Hormuz by “violating the ceasefire” and stated that the current situation “is unbearable” for Washington, quoting the President of the Iranian Parliament, Mohamad Baqer Qalibaf.

El Mundo America

El Mundo America also reported that Qalibaf warned that a new equation in the Strait of Hormuz “is being consolidated” and maintained that the continuation of the current situation “is unbearable for the United States.”

El Mundo America further described Qalibaf’s warning that the United States initiated Operation Freedom with the mobilization, announced by US President Donald Trump, of hundreds of aircraft, destroyers, and drones to facilitate the passage through the Strait of Hormuz of vessels trapped due to the Iranian blockade.

In parallel, El Mundo America said the European Union strongly condemned “unprovoked” Iranian missile and drone attacks by Iran against “strategic partners” of the Twenty-Seven in the Persian Gulf such as United Arab Emirates and Oman, citing the EU’s External Action Service.

The EU statement urged Iran to “immediately cease these actions, which constitute a flagrant violation of international law, and to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the countries in the region.”

TRT World, meanwhile, reported that Trump downplayed tensions after US warships entered the Strait of Hormuz, saying Iran had “taken some shots” but caused no harm apart from damage to a South Korean vessel, and quoted Trump on Truth Social: “Other than the South Korean Ship, there has been, at this moment, no damage going through the Strait.”

Across the reporting, the ceasefire’s fragility was repeatedly tied to the question of whether the latest incidents would remain within the “grey zone” or push the parties toward open war.

“Skip to main content Several commercial boats on fire in southern Iranian port: Report Middle East Several commercial boats on fire in southern Iranian port: Report Cause of fire not known yet, Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency reports Serdar Dincel 05 May 2026•Update: 05 May 2026”

Anadolu Ajansı

TRT World described what it called “grey-zone confrontation,” saying “Swarms of drones and fast boats, along with limited missile strikes, allow both sides to assert power without triggering a full military response.”

GMA Network

TRT World said naval harassment, mine-laying threats, and economic coercion blur the line between military and commercial pressure, and it quoted analysts describing the situation as “testing of boundaries” where both sides push the limits of restraint while avoiding a direct collapse of the ceasefire.

TRT World also said diplomacy between Washington and Tehran has been deadlocked since the ceasefire, with the US twice aborting plans for senior officials to attend talks in Pakistan.

TRT World reported that Tehran has vowed not to surrender control over the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran claims de facto authority over the strait, warning that vessels must coordinate with its military and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards unveiling a new map to reinforce its stance.

TRT World provided a geographic description of the area, saying “The area starts in the west with a line between the westernmost tip of Iran's Qeshm island to the UAE' Umm al Quwain emirate” and that “In the east, the area stops at a line between Iran's Mount Mobarak and the UAE's Emirate of Fujairah.”

El Mundo America reported that Iran’s chief negotiator warned on Tuesday that his country has “not even started” its confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz, quoting Mohamad Baqer Qalibaf: “We know perfectly well that the continuation of the status quo is intolerable for the United States, while we have not even started yet,” and adding that he said their “malignant presence will diminish.”