TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A US aircraft fired at a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday night.
The US military's Central Command said an unladen oil tanker, the Curacao-flagged M/T Belma, was seen transiting in international waters towards Kharg Island — a key export hub for Iran's oil.
"The commercial vessel ignored multiple warnings as it attempted to violate the US blockade," CENTCOM said on X.
"A US aircraft disabled the vessel after firing hellfire missiles into the ship’s smokestack. The ship is no longer transiting to Iran."
CENTCOM said that since it enacted the latest US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, it has "redirected two compliant commercial vessels and disabled one non-compliant vessel."
The US military also said it launched "a second wave" of strikes against Iran earlier in the afternoon.
"The strikes are targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, an international waterway vital to global commerce," CENTCOM said on X.
"The US military is holding Iran accountable at the commander in chief's direction," it added, referring to President Donald Trump.
The strikes followed a wave of daytime strikes earlier on Wednesday.
Iran's Qalibaf: 'We have never welcomed war,' but must 'stand our ground'
Iran's top negotiator and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Qalibaf has given a speech, also publishing lengthy extracts on social media, saying the country had "never welcomed war," but nevertheless "must always be ready for battle and stand our ground to protect our security and national interests."
He said the country should also "use the tools of diplomacy and negotiation to achieve and consolidate national interests."
These comments seemed to cover more or less any eventuality — a continuation or intensification in clashes with the US and its interests in the Gulf region, a return to negotiations, or a mixture of all of the above. He explicitly called for "coordination between the two methods of military and diplomacy."
Qalibaf said that to separate and choose "either negotiation or war as the only solution" would be a "strategic error" for the country, saying the country needed a multifaceted strategy amid a "complex war" against "the greatest material power in the world."
He defended the decision to close the Strait of Hormuz during the conflict and referred to a "position of strength" on the matter.
"Today, our national security lies in maintaining the 'Iranian arrangements' on the Strait of Hormuz and allowing commercial ships to pass through this waterway as safely and without harm as possible, so that it will create security for Iran," he said.
Qalibaf made reference to Point 5 of the Memorandum of Understanding with the US and its references to the Strait, saying that it was designed as a "lever" for implementing other Iranian priorities in the tentative agreement. He alleged that the US was trying to "weaken the Iranian arrangements by force" and said Iran must resist this.
The US portrays the latest round of fighting very differently, claiming its strikes are a response to Iranian attacks on commercial shipping.
Read: US Launches Fresh Iran Strikes as Naval Blockade Takes Effect
Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News
