The United States and Iran issued sharply divergent accounts of whether negotiations to end their five-month war were under way, as a cargo ship reported being struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz overnight.
US President Donald Trump said the two sides had resumed talks aimed at winding down the conflict, describing the negotiations as Tehran’s “last chance” to secure a deal. Iran countered that its only discussions were with Oman and were focused narrowly on the status of the strategic waterway.
The vessel reported being “hit by an unknown projectile” at 2 a.m. local time while positioned roughly 37 kilometres (23 miles) northeast of Al Khasab, Oman, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center stated. The agency did not disclose the ship’s flag, its cargo, or the extent of any damage.
Al Khasab sits on the tip of the Arabian peninsula that juts into the Strait of Hormuz, the channel at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas passed before the war.
The strait has been effectively shut since the conflict began in February, with Iran targeting shipping and the US imposing a blockade on Iranian ports in the waterway. The disruption to global energy flows has kept markets on edge for months.
Trump said he had called off a set of large-scale strikes he had threatened to launch against Iran, citing appeals from Gulf allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The move follows an earlier pattern in which Washington has alternated between military pressure and openness to a diplomatic off-ramp.
Tehran, for its part, denied that any bilateral channel with Washington had opened, maintaining that reports of direct negotiations were inaccurate.
Financial markets responded to the mixed signals. The benchmark S&P 500 approached an all-time high, while oil prices moved in conflicting directions across the trading day as investors weighed the prospect of a ceasefire against renewed instability in the strait.
The competing narratives underscore the fragility of any path toward de-escalation. A blockade of the strait has periodically coincided with the collapse of earlier rounds of talks, leaving the outlook for shipping and energy supplies uncertain.
Whether the reported channel produces a formal agreement remains unclear, with both sides continuing to project firmness. Attention now turns to whether the strike on the cargo vessel triggers further military exchanges or renewed diplomatic contact in the days ahead.