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Welcome to our live coverage of the US and Israel’s war with Iran.
A cargo ship has been struck by multiple small craft while sailing near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to UK military officials.
The ship, which was not immediately identified, was hit right off the coast of Sirik, Iran, just east of the strait, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said.
All crew members were reported safe, with no group immediately claiming responsibility for the attack.
Iran’s military, however, has repeatedly warned any ship that tries to navigate the strait would be attacked unless they pay a toll and prove they are not affiliated with the US or Israel.
It comes after German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he on Sunday demanded that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz and give up its nuclear weapons program in a telephone call with Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.
“I emphasised that Germany supports a negotiated solution,” Mr Wadephul said in a post on X about the call. “
As a close US ally, we share the same goal: Iran must completely and verifiably renounce nuclear weapons and immediately open the Strait of Hormuz, as also demanded by” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Iran earlier took aim at Mr Trump for his comments likening the takeover of Iranian vessels by US troops to the act of “pirates”.
Spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Esmaeil Baqaei lambasted Mr Trump on X over the act, which he claimed was illegal.
“The President of the United States has openly described the unlawful seizure of Iranian vessels as ‘piracy’, brazenly boasting that ‘we act like pirates’,” Mr Baqaei wrote on the social media platform.
“This was no verbal slip. It was a direct and damning admission of the criminal nature of their actions against international maritime navigation. The international community, UN Member States, and the UN Secretary-General must firmly reject any normalisation of such blatant violations of international law.”
Mr Rubio will meet Pope Leo on a trip to Rome this week, in the wake of the pontiff’s clash with Donald Trump, a Vatican source said on Sunday.
It comes just weeks after Mr Trump’s extraordinary criticism of Pope Leo XIV over the Catholic leader’s anti-war rhetoric.
Read on below for updates.
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