Trump accuses Iran of "stupidly violating" the ceasefire after the attack on a ship in Hormuz

WashingtonThe President of the United States, Donald Trump, has accused Iran of "stupidly violating" the ceasefire, after an Iranian drone attacked a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The Republican, however, has not mentioned whether he will take retaliatory action for the events. "The Islamic Republic of Iran has launched at least four one-way attack drones against ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz. One of the drones has impacted directly against the upper deck of a large and very expensive cargo ship," he wrote this Friday on Truth Social, hours after the news of the attack became known.

The U.S. military shot down three other drones that were also heading towards the ship, as Trump explained in the same publication. But despite the incident, the president assures that the vessel was able to continue its journey. This is the first clash between U.S. and Iranian forces after Washington capitulated to Tehran with the signing of the memorandum to reopen the strait. This same month, the magnate had warned the Iranians that if they did not respect the provisional agreement, the U.S. would probably bomb the country again.

After months of low-intensity crossfire, this is the first time Trump has openly accused Iran of violating the ceasefire. On previous occasions, the president always dismissed the bombings, even when in May the new escalation led to the launch of U.S. missiles inside Iranian territory. The new episode adds another setback to the negotiation process between the United States and Iran, which began almost a week ago in Switzerland, in an attempt to end the war.

While the fringe of Hormuz seems to be unraveling again, Washington has managed to mend the other sensitive part of the talks: Israel's indiscriminate bombings in Lebanon. In a very convenient coincidence, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced a "preliminary agreement" between the two countries to curb Israeli hostilities. The provisional document is the result of talks between Tel Aviv and Beirut that have taken place in Washington over the past few months. "It is the beginning of the beginning," Rubio said at a press conference accompanied by representatives from Lebanon and Israel.

In a recorded statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured that under the new agreement, Israeli forces will withdraw from two areas in southern Lebanon and transfer control to the Lebanese army.

Insecurity continues in Hormuz

Despite the memorandum agreed between the two parties, insecurity continues to hover over the Strait of Hormuz. The passage of ships has never been guaranteed despite the ceasefire signed last April, and it seems that the new document signed in Versailles also risks ending up as a dead letter. Although Trump said the waterway was already open to unrestricted navigation, the preliminary text he signed does not stipulate exactly how the reopening of the passage should be managed.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, warned this morning on X that passage through the strait "is not guaranteed" without coordination with Iran. Iranian state television has also reported that several oil tankers have been turned back because they did not have an "authorized passage".

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also issued a statement through state media, emphasizing that the strait is within Omani and Iranian waters and citing a section of the agreement in which Tehran interprets that it has the right to manage maritime traffic through the strait. The section referred to by Iran is a very ambiguous part of the text, where it is stipulated that the ayatollahs "will do everything possible" to ensure the safe passage of merchant ships.

The attack has also led the UN to suspend its mission to try to rescue ships that had become stranded in the strait due to the blockade. Arsenio Domínguez, the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in charge of the operation, has stated that evacuations will resume once they have guarantees that more ships will not be attacked.