Iran will not enter a second round of negotiations with the United States until the naval blockade of the country’s ports is lifted, according to its UN ambassador, Amir-Saeid Iravani.
An advisor to the speaker of the Iranian was quoted by the BBC as saying: “The ceasefire extension means nothing” and “a ploy to buy time for a surprise strike”.
This follows the extension of the ceasefire by President Donald Trump which expired last night. In a show of defiance, three cargo ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), the captain of an outbound cargo ship reported that the vessel “having been fired upon” approximately 8 nautical miles west of Iran’s coast at 0638GMT.
The vessel “is now stopped” following the incident, it said, adding that all crew are safe with “no reported damage to the vessel”.
The authority said early Wednesday that it had received a report at 0355GMT of an incident involving a commercial vessel approximately 15 nautical miles northeast of Oman.
UKMTO said the master of a container ship said the vessel was approached by a gunboat linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The agency said it had received 35 reports of incidents affecting vessels operating in and around the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf of Oman since Feb. 28.
It said that the total reported attacks stood at 22, while suspicious activity reports reached 13 during this period. Regional tensions escalated since the US and Iran launched a joint offensive against Iran on February 28, prompting retaliatory attacks by Tehran on US assets and bases across the Middle East.
A two-week ceasefire was announced on April 8, and the US and Iran held rare direct talks in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on April 11-12, but the talks ended without an agreement.
Iran had briefly lifted its control over the Strait of Hormuz last Friday but reinstated it a day later after US President Donald Trump said the blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place. On Tuesday, Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran indefinitely, a day before the truce was to expire.