U.S. Fires on Iranian Tankers in Strait of Hormuz After Naval Skirmishes

The United States and Iran exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz, with Washington saying three US Navy destroyers transited “very successfully” while Iran accused the US of violating the ceasefire by targeting an Iranian oil tanker and another ship.

Al Jazeera reported that US President Donald Trump said three US Navy destroyers were attacked as they moved through the strait, and Trump wrote on Truth Social: "Three World Class American Destroyers just transited, very successfully, out of the Strait of Hormuz, under fire."

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NPR said US forces fired on and disabled two Iranian oil tankers on Friday after exchanging fire with Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, and it reported that the UAE also reported another Iranian missile and drone attack.

NPR added that the attacks cast more doubt on a tenuous month-old ceasefire that the United States has insisted is still in effect, as Washington awaited an Iranian response to its latest proposal for a deal to end the war, reopen the strait and roll back Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

In the same reporting, NPR quoted US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying he hopes to receive "a serious offer" from Iran later Friday, as the US military said it thwarted attacks on three Navy ships and struck Iranian military facilities in the strait earlier in the week.

Al Jazeera said Iran’s top joint military command accused the US of violating the ceasefire by targeting an Iranian oil tanker and another ship, and it also said the military claimed the US carried out air attacks on civilian areas on Qeshm Island and nearby coastal areas in Bandar Khamir and Sirik.

NPR reported that Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned what it called "hostile" U.S. military action, saying it violated the ceasefire, and it quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posting on X: "Every time a diplomatic solution is on the table, the U.S. opts for a reckless military adventure."

Al Jazeera

NPR also said the U.S. military posted video of two Iranian tankers as their smokestacks were struck by an American fighter jet on Friday, and it reported that earlier in the week an American military jet shot out the rudder of a tanker the U.S. military said was attempting to breach its blockade.

The Guardian described the wider standoff as one in which “neither side can continue the high-stakes standoff in the strait of Hormuz indefinitely,” while also detailing that the most significant development this week was the collapse of Trump’s Project Freedom on Tuesday after just 50 hours.

In that same Guardian account, Lloyd’s List editor Richard Meade said: "Security teams in the region remain unclear what’s happening and no ship owner I have spoken to in the past 24 hours has any confidence that this changes anything."

The New York Times said traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remained throttled on Saturday after naval skirmishes between US and Iranian forces heightened tensions in the shipping route, and it reported that about 1,600 ships were bottled up in the Persian Gulf.

It also said that since April 13, the U.S. Navy has intercepted and turned around 58 commercial ships and American forces have “disabled” four other ships that did not comply with American orders, while fear of Iranian attacks kept other ships from attempting passage.

Crypto Briefing framed the situation as a blockade-driven disruption, saying Strait of Hormuz traffic by May 15 is priced at 1.8% YES and that market odds for Trump’s Hormuz blockade announcement by May 31 are at 40.5% YES.

In the same Crypto Briefing market snapshot, it said the probability of 20 ships transiting the Strait by May 31 is 65.5% YES, down from 69% in the last day, and it described continued naval blockades as consistent with traffic unlikely to normalize by mid-May.

The New York Times added that data from MarineTraffic indicated at least six cargo ships had crossed the Strait of Hormuz since Wednesday, but no tankers, while it noted that intelligence firms’ tracking could be incomplete because vessels sometimes fake or shut off their location signals.