Three Tankers Are Hit in Hormuz as Qatar Blames Iran and Tehran Pushes Transit Fees
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 7
Three Tankers Are Hit in Hormuz as Qatar Blames Iran and Tehran Pushes Transit Fees
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 7
Summary
Three tankers were struck within hours in the Strait of Hormuz, including Qatar’s LNG vessel Al Rekayyat, which sent a Mayday after a drone hit its port side near the engine room off Limah, Oman.
Qatar called the strike on its ship a serious violation of international law and said Iran would bear full legal responsibility — the first time a Qatari vessel has been hit since the US-Iran war began on Feb. 28.
Iran denied responsibility and blamed the US, saying Washington’s push for new shipping routes breached a US-Iran memorandum that Tehran says leaves it, with Oman, to manage the strait’s reopening over 30 days.
Tehran also insisted it can charge ships for safe passage and rejected Omani, British and French proposals for alternative routing or outside security, setting up a wider dispute over who controls postwar navigation through Hormuz.