Tensions flare near Strait of Hormuz as a ship is seized and another is
sunk
[May 15, 2026]
By ADAM SCHRECK and MELANIE LIDMAN
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A ship anchored off the United Arab
Emirates was seized and taken toward Iran and another — a cargo ship
near Oman — sank after being attacked, authorities said Thursday, as
tensions escalated near the Strait of Hormuz.
It wasn't immediately clear who was behind these incidents, but they
happened as a senior Iranian official reiterated his country’s claim of
control over the waterway and another said it had a right to seize oil
tankers connected to the U.S.
The turmoil in the strait, which a fifth of the world’s oil passed
through before the war, has been a sticking point for weeks in talks
between the U.S. and Iran to end the conflict. Iran's grip on the vital
waterway has jolted the world economy and spiked fuel prices far beyond
the Middle East.
The ongoing instability in the region came as U.S. President Donald
Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. The White House
said both sides had agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open.
Just last week, tensions flared in the strait when U.S. forces fired on
and disabled Iranian oil tankers that they said were trying to breach
its blockade of Iran’s ports.
Seizures and attacks in Hormuz ongoing
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said it received
reports that the ship seized Thursday was taken by unauthorized
personnel while anchored 38 nautical miles (70 kilometers, 44 miles)
northeast of the UAE port of Fujairah, an important oil export terminal
that has been repeatedly attacked during the war with Iran.
The U.K. maritime center did not name the ship seized Thursday and said
it is investigating. The British military said the vessel is heading
toward Iranian waters.
Indian authorities said Thursday that an Indian-flagged cargo ship sank
off the coast of Oman after an attack sparked a fire aboard the vessel
while it was en route from Somalia to Sharjah, another UAE port. They
did not say who attacked the ship.
The attack on the Indian-flagged cargo ship Haji Ali occurred Wednesday,
according to Mukesh Mangal, a senior official in India’s shipping
ministry. He said all 14 Indian crew members were rescued by Oman’s
coast guard and were safe.
India’s foreign ministry called the incident “unacceptable” and
condemned continued attacks on commercial shipping and civilian
mariners. The ministry did not identify who carried out the attack.
Seizures come at tense diplomatic moment
Iranian semiofficial news agencies reported that Chinese ships began
passing through the strait Wednesday night under new Iranian protocols.
According to the reports, Tehran agreed to facilitate the passage of
several Chinese vessels after requests from China’s foreign minister and
Beijing’s ambassador to Iran. The ships began their passage as Trump
arrived in China.
The seizure of a ship off the coast of the UAE happened hours after
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had quietly visited the
country during the Israeli-U.S. war with Iran, though the UAE swiftly
denied it.
The Gulf nation normalized relations with Israel in 2020. Iran has
criticized that agreement and has repeatedly suggested over the years
that Israel maintained a military and intelligence presence in the UAE.
Netanyahu’s decision to go public with the sensitive meeting was likely
an effort to drum up support for his flagging party ahead of Israeli
elections, said Yoel Guzansky, a senior researcher at the Institute of
National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
“It’s amazing, it’s the deepest cooperation we’ve ever had … that during
a war, Israel is defending an Arab state against Iran. It shows how
complicated the Middle East is,” he said.
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Two men sit in a small boat on the water as a mix of bulk carriers,
cargo ships, and service vessels line the horizon in the Strait of
Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, April 27, 2026.(Razieh Poudat/ISNA
via AP)
The UAE is trying to highlight its cooperation with Israel but not
with Netanyahu and his government, Guzansky said, because many in
the UAE are against Israel’s policies in Gaza.
“They’re trying to differentiate between security cooperation and
cooperating with this government,” said Guzansky, who previously
worked for the national security council within the Israeli prime
minister's office.
Iran sets demands for new talks
Iran said it will not enter more talks with the United States unless
five conditions are met, including paying reparations for the war
and accepting Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s
semiofficial Fars news agency reported, citing an informed source.
The White House is again unlikely to accept those demands, which
would essentially formalize Iran's control over a waterway that was
open to international traffic before the war.
Iran’s senior vice president, Mohammadreza Aref, said Thursday that
the strait belongs to Iran and that Tehran would not give it up “at
any price,” state TV reported. “It has always been our property,”
Aref said.
Iran defends right to seize ships
Iran’s judiciary spokesperson told the state-owned Iran Daily
newspaper on Thursday that Iran has the legal and judicial right to
seize oil tankers in the strait that are connected to the U.S.
because the U.S. has violated international maritime laws and
committed piracy. The spokesperson, Asghar Jahangir, did not
explicitly refer to the tanker seized on Thursday.
Iran seized a number of ships, including a tanker identified as the
Ocean Koi, last week, saying it was attempting to disrupt oil
exports and Iranian interests, according to the official IRNA news
agency. It said the tanker was seized in the Gulf of Oman and
carrying Iranian oil when it was taken to Iran’s southern coast.
The U.S. sanctioned the Ocean Koi in February as part of a “shadow
fleet” transporting Iranian oil.
Top US military leader says Iran's threats impact shipping
The top U.S. commander in the Middle East said Thursday he believes
Iran’s military capabilities have been “dramatically degraded,” but
its leaders are impacting shipping in the strait with rhetoric
alone.
“Their voice is very loud, and the threats are clearly heard by the
merchant industry and the insurance industry,” Adm. Brad Cooper told
lawmakers in Congress.
He said the U.S. has the military power to permanently reopen the
strait and escort ships. But he deferred to policymakers about the
best path forward amid a “time of sensitive negotiations.”
___
Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Natalie Melzer in Nahariya,
Israel, Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi and Konstantin Toropin in
Washington contributed to this report.
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