By Jonathan Saul, Gram Slattery and Tala Ramadan
LONDON/MANAMA/DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.N. International Maritime Organization paused its operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday after a vessel reported an attack, reigniting concerns about whether a preliminary deal to end the Iran war will hold.
The cargo ship said it was hit close to Oman by a projectile, British navy agency UKMTO said, hours after Tehran warned vessels against taking routes that it had not approved.
Two U.S. officials told Reuters that Iran had fired on the ship, while Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which Tehran established to manage requests for ships to travel through the strait, said vessels outside routes it has set will not be guaranteed safe passage.
"Consequences arising from passage through unauthorized routes shall be the responsibility of the owner, operator, and vessel commander," the Iranian authority said.
Four sources identified the ship as the Singapore-flagged Ever Lovely. A security source said it was likely targeted by a drone.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. government. U.S. President Donald Trump warned earlier this month that if Iran did not honor an agreement aimed at ending the war and reopening the strait that the U.S. would probably go back to bombing the country again.
SHIPS AND SEAFARERS STRANDED FOR MONTHS
The IMO was helping to get hundreds of stranded ships and thousands of seafarers out of the strait where they had been stranded for months since the start of the war in late February.
It decided "to temporarily pause its implementation in order to reconfirm that the necessary safety guarantees continue to be in place for the ships on our evacuation list and all those in the region," IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement.
The IMO said the ship involved in the suspected attack was not part of its evacuation program.
The initiative, which was launched on Tuesday, was a voluntary option for ships and their crew to sail out of the Gulf using two routes – one via Iranian waters and the other via Omani waters, with U.S. oversight, the IMO said this week.
Benchmark oil prices rose 2% following reports of the attack, which analysts said rekindled concerns about how long it could take for Gulf oil flows to resume normal levels.
The Oman incident is likely to refocus attention on the extent of Iran's future control over the Strait of Hormuz which, before the conflict, handled a fifth of the world's daily oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
Before the incident, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio - wrapping up a tour of the Gulf to reassure states about the interim pact - told reporters that if Iran threatens or blocks ships in the strait, "then we're going to have a problem."
Iran, though, has signaled it would continue to assert control over the strait.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday that safe passage through the strait would only be possible through routes designated by Iran, adding that it would take action against vessels that failed to comply.
The Revolutionary Guards also ordered two Panama-flagged ships to change course on Thursday, British maritime security company Ambrey said.
Earlier, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said shipments through the strait were approaching levels seen before the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, with at least 20 million barrels of oil exiting the waterway in the previous 24 hours.
Other shipping data showed crude shipments through the Strait of Hormuz rose this week to their highest level since the war began in February, while South Korea's Oceans Ministry said eight more South Korean vessels have exited the strait.
During the conflict, Iran took effective control of the vital chokepoint, disrupting oil flows and rattling global energy markets and the wider economy.
The war is weighing heavily on Trump ahead of November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. Just one in four Americans believes the war was worth the cost, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.
Conflicting accounts have emerged over elements of the framework ceasefire deal, which has prompted criticism of Trump at home and abroad.
Disagreements persist over financial incentives for Iran, nuclear inspections, control of the Strait of Hormuz and Israel's parallel war in Lebanon.
Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said on Thursday that the U.S. assertion that Iran would spend its unfrozen assets to buy U.S. agricultural products was false.
The deal sets up 60 days of talks to tackle thornier issues, including Iran's nuclear program.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Ros Russell, Andrew Heavens and David Brunnstrom; editing by Gareth Jones, Jason Neely and Sanjeev Miglani and Lincoln Feast.)
Posted by: AAngeles/NET25 News
