Iran said on Sunday that it struck a US vessel which was allegedly trying to enter the contested Strait of Hormuz.
The alleged attack came a day after the US military said forces struck three Iranian oil tankers in response to a missile attack on Navy warships.
Iran said the US vessel, which they claim they have struck, was unmanned. The US dismissed the claim, describing it as a “total lie”.
The US and Iran resumed attacks last week, following a month of relative calm. At least five people were killed earlier in the week during a US bombardment of southern Iran.
President Trump’s administration appears to have adopted a dual-pronged approach to the conflict, responding militarily to attacks on the strait while going after foreign financial institutions that handle Iran’s money.
But Tehran’s new hard-line senior leaders have signalled a willingness to dig in after weathering decades of sanctions.
Iran has found ways over the years to circumvent sanctions and the US blockade and get its oil to buyers to help ease growing economic pressures. That relies, in part, on a shadow fleet to transport its oil.
The war began with US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, but since a ceasefire agreement was announced in June, on-and-off fighting has persisted with both sides trying to inflict military and economic pain as negotiations have collapsed.
It is believed negotiations collapsed because of Iran’s nuclear programme, an issue that contributed to the outbreak of the war.
Iran’s nuclear programme was meant to be addressed in negotiations that fell apart soon after the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in mid-June.
But recently, Tehran’s new leverage focused on the Strait of Hormuz, which is crucial to global oil and natural gas shipments and was seen as an international waterway before the war began.
