UN agency says it pauses Hormuz ship evacuation initiative after vessel attacked

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Published - June 26, 2026 02:32 am IST - LONDON Traffic through the strait increased in recent days but was still well below prewar levels. Representational file image. | Photo Credit: Reuters A United Nations agency paused the evacuation of ships through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday (June 25, 2026) after the British military said a vessel was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman following the passage of several tankers that used a route backed by the UN. The head of the International Maritime Organization said the plan to move stranded ships out of the Persian Gulf through the strait will be on hold until the agency can confirm safety guarantees for the ships on the evacuation list and in the region. It was unclear who launched the projectile or the type of vessel that was targeted. The report of a strike came hours after Iran threatened vessels to stop using the route through the strait without Tehran’s permission. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the vessel sustained damage, but it reported no injuries or environmental impact in the attack off the coast of Oman. The opening of an alternative passage through the vital waterway would relieve pressure on the world economy and remove Iran’s main source of leverage in ongoing peace talks with the United States. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on a visit to the Gulf to reassure American allies, said Washington was committed to the new route and making sure ships were able to transit the strait. “If that stops, then we’re going to have a problem,” Mr. Rubio said earlier Thursday (June 25, 2026). Traffic through the strait increased in recent days but was still well below prewar levels. Oil on Thursday (June 25, 2026) briefly dipped below its last prewar price of just under $73 per barrel, a sign that the market believes the situation was improving. The U.S. and Iran are still debating terms of an interim peace deal — from getting ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf to the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Under the memorandum of understanding signed last week, the U.S. and Iran have 60 days to iron out the details. As talks are held behind closed doors, US President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders have seemed to negotiate in public, trading threats and claiming concessions the other side denies. Meanwhile, a flare-up of fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants threatened the wider truce. Lebanon says five people have been killed by Israeli strikes over the past two days. Oil tankers, led by the Stoic Warrior vessel, sailed along the United Arab Emirates and then Oman early Thursday, passing by Oman’s Musandam Peninsula fairly close to the shore. The route was laid out by Oman and the International Maritime Organization, a UN agency. North of the route is a corridor in the center of the strait where ships had moved through freely before the war, transporting about a fifth of all the world’s oil and natural gas. Iran said it mined that passage after the U.S. and Israel attacked it on Feb. 28. At least one mine has been sighted there. Though some ships had been getting out of the strait, with US military support, the UN agency’s effort is the latest to free trapped vessels. The shipping company Maersk said its container ship, the Maersk Baltimore, and another chartered vessel made it out on Thursday (June 25, 2026). Last week, 125 vessels crossed the strait, up from 33 the week before, according to marine data and analysis firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence. According to S&P Global, Wednesday (June 24, 2026) saw 78 transits, the most since the war began, but still below the daily prewar average of 130 or more. “Opportunistic operators — and there are many of them — emboldened by the lower transit risk, or at least the perceived lower transit risk, have begun chasing the backlog of trapped cargoes,” said Richard Meade, editor-in-chief at Lloyd’s List. The naval arm of the Revolutionary Guard issued a warning Thursday (June 25, 2026) against using the route, carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agenc

UN agency says it pauses Hormuz ship evacuation initiative after vessel attacked

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UN agency says it pauses Hormuz ship evacuation initiative after vessel attacked

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