Iranian cargo ship is struck, and talks between Tehran and its neighbors are postponed

CAIRO — An Iranian cargo vessel was struck early Sunday off Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media said, and a plan by Tehran to brief neighboring countries on its contested efforts to manage shipping in the strait was postponed.

The attack, which the reports said killed one and wounded four, drew attention back to the strait after threats to shipping in the region intensified last week when Iran-backed Houthi rebels captured an island on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency quoted the Qeshm governor as blaming a “terrorist enemy” for Sunday’s attack. There was no immediate comment by the U.S. military, which has struck Iranian-flagged vessels during its blockade of Iranian ports and faces a new threat from Iranian ballistic missiles launched at its warships.

Qeshm Island, about 14 miles from the port city of Bandar Abbas, is key to Iran asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Hours before the attack, Iran’s government remained defiant. “Our people can’t be bullied into submission. Iran won’t surrender,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a social media post.

President Trump, meanwhile, said Sunday that Iran “wants to make a deal so bad” that “they’re calling constantly.” The U.S. will “ultimately get out, unless we decide to stay and keep the oil, like Venezuela.” Trump spoke at his golf course in Doonbeg, Ireland, where he was attending a tournament.

Later, when asked by a reporter whether the U.S. struck the Iranian cargo vessel early Sunday in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said: “I don’t want to say.” He then boarded Air Force One to head back to Washington.

Regional meeting postponed

Iran has said foreign ministers from regional countries would meet Monday in Oman to discuss efforts by Iran and Oman, located on the other side of the strait, to manage shipping on it. But the foreign minister of Oman, Badr Albusaidi, said on X late Sunday that the meeting had been postponed “in the interests of consensus.”

Iran and Oman agreed to postpone the talks “at the request of some regional countries,” said Mohammad Ali Bak, an official in Iran’s Foreign Ministry who was quoted by IRNA on X.

Commercial ship traffic remains low in the Strait of Hormuz as attacks continue on what was seen as an international waterway before the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations monitor said Sunday that a vessel was hit by a projectile while transiting the strait, though it wasn’t clear if this was referring to the attack Iran had reported off Qeshm. The monitor said a severe fire had broken out and that local authorities were evacuating those on board.

The U.S. has asserted that plenty of oil is getting out as its military helps to guide ships along Oman’s coast, at the risk of being struck.

Before the meeting in Oman was postponed, only Iraq had publicly confirmed plans to attend. Bahrain had said it would not attend, citing a lack of diplomatic relations with Tehran.

Since early in the war, Iran has expressed interest in having ships pay fees for transit. It has said traffic into the Persian Gulf would pass through Iranian waters, while the outbound route would pass partly through Iranian waters and partly through Oman’s.

There was some optimism in the region about the meeting, with hope that Persian Gulf nations might use it to assert a collective response to a war they had no part in starting. For months, they have faced Iranian attacks that Tehran has said target U.S. military assets on their lands.

On Sunday, Pezeshkian said he had a “good talk” over the weekend with a top official from the United Arab Emirates on the sidelines of a global summit of leading developing nations.

Iran has fired thousands of missiles and drones at the gulf country, a close U.S. ally.

Pezeshkian said he met with Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed, while attending the BRICS summit in New Delhi.

“We talked about the issues of concern so that it’s possible to put the past behind us, to look toward the future and how we can build the future together,” Pezeshkian said. His comments were aired live on Iranian state television.

Magdy, Aljoud and Anna write for the Associated Press. Anna reported from Jerusalem. AP writers Amir Radjy in Cairo, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv and Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report.