Iran shot at two ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz while US airstrikes reportedly killed two people in southwestern Iran as continued clashes cast doubt on diplomatic efforts to bring a complete end to the war.

The ongoing clashes around the Strait of Hormuz again underlined that the waterway, which once saw a fifth of the world’s traded crude oil and natural gas pass through it, remains the key issue in negotiations. The narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf has seen shipping disrupted since the start of the war as Iran has maintained a chokehold on it by attacking commercial vessels around it, intimidating shippers.

Iranian state TV reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps fired “warning shots” at two ships attempting to cross the strait, as Tehran and Washington continue to battle for control of the strategic waterway. Such attacks on ships in the strait had prompted the US to launch fresh strikes on Iran in recent days, igniting the ongoing clashes.

“This morning, two ships that were attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz illegally were targeted and stopped by warning shots fired by the navy of the Revolutionary Guards,” said a correspondent on national television based near the strait.

Iran and the US are nearly halfway through the 60-day interim deal period that was supposed to set up talks for a permanent end to the war. Instead, it has devolved into a series of attacks over the strait and its future, worrying world leaders that the war could fully resume.

In an interview on Sunday, US President Donald Trump claimed Iran “agreed to a deal” on Saturday before striking a Cyprus-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

An Indian crew member is still missing from the attack, and a search operation is underway to find him, Cyprus’s Deputy Ministry of Shipping said on Monday.

The US claimed earlier Monday that the strait was open, while the IRGC sharply rejected the American statement.

In Iran, authorities reported attacks in Hormozgan, Khuzestan and Markazi provinces and said at least two people were killed, according to state-run IRNA news agency. Semiofficial Iranian media also reported strikes in the eastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, which is on the coast of the Gulf of Oman.

US airstrikes........

© The Times of Israel