Iran fired on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, intensifying its attack on shipping in the waterway crucial to global energy supplies and complicating already faltering efforts to bring the United States and Iran together in talks to end the war.
The attacks were carried out by the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, according to Iranian media, which reported that the force seized two of the ships and was taking them to Iran.
This represented an escalation by Iran’s leaders, who appear set to push for a tougher deal with U.S. negotiators after U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would indefinitely extend the ceasefire with Iran that was set to expire on Wednesday.
Despite the extension, Trump also appeared to insist, saying the United States would continue to blockade Iranian ports.
That set the stage for continued disruption to traffic in the strait, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas passes in peacetime, even if the ceasefire largely holds.
The conflict has already sent gas prices soaring far beyond the region and raised the cost of food and a wide range of other products. The longer the strait remains closed, the more severe and widespread the effects will be, and the longer it will take the economy to recover.
Iran opened fire on a container ship in the strait on Wednesday morning and a second was attacked a short time later, according to the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre.
Iranian state television later reported that both ships were attacked by the Revolutionary Guard and were in force custody and being taken to Iran.
Receive the latest national news
Get the latest Canadian news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you don’t miss any breaking news.
The semi-official news agencies Nour News, Fars and Mehr later reported that the Guard attacked a third ship, which they said had become “stranded” on the Iranian coast, without giving further details.
There have been more than 30 attacks on ships in the Middle East since the war began on February 28 with US and Israeli airstrikes against Iran.
Iran’s ability to restrict traffic through the strait, which runs from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has proven to be an important strategic advantage.
While the ceasefire means that US and Israeli airstrikes have ceased in Iran (and that Tehran’s missiles are no longer aimed at Israel or the entire Middle East), the attacks in the strait and previous US interdictions of Iranian ships show that the maritime threat persists.
Without any diplomatic agreement, such attacks will likely deter ships from even attempting to cross the waterway and further reduce global energy supplies. Wednesday’s attacks sent Brent crude oil, the international standard, up to nearly $100 a barrel, up more than 35 percent since the war began.
As the attacks unfolded, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard vowed to “deal crushing blows beyond the enemy’s imagination to its remaining assets in the region.”
The night before, hardline supporters of the Iranian theocracy held rallies in which the Guard displayed missiles and launchers, a sign of defiance to Israel and the United States, which devoted much of their airstrike campaign to destroying the country’s ballistic missile arsenal.
It is unclear when talks could restart. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei acknowledged the extension of Trump’s ceasefire in comments reported Wednesday by Iranian state television, but did not specifically say Tehran was ready to attend a new round of talks.
Earlier, Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian mission in Egypt, told The Associated Press that no delegation would go to Pakistan until the United States lifts its blockade.
Two Pakistani officials told the AP that Islamabad is still waiting to hear from Tehran about when it will send a delegation. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
In Lebanon, where fighting broke out between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah after the United States and Israel launched their initial attacks, the state-run National News Agency said an early morning Israeli drone strike on the village of Jabbour killed one person and wounded two others.
The Israeli army denied attacking the area.
A 10-day ceasefire went into effect in Lebanon on Friday, but there have been several Israeli attacks and Hezbollah claimed responsibility for its first attack on Tuesday.
Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, according to authorities. More than 2,290 people have died in Lebanon, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen in the Arab Gulf States. Fifteen Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon and 13 American service members have died across the region.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
