Missiles in Hormuz and Red Sea Darken Prospects for U.S.-Iran Negotiations

Tensions between the United States and Iran escalated sharply once again as attacks targeting commercial vessels resumed in the Strait of Hormuz and at the entrance of the Red Sea.

Although both countries are formally leaving room for dialogue mediated by neighboring nations, the prospects for an end-of-war agreement are growing increasingly dim as they continue a hard-line standoff with no common ground in sight.

According to major foreign media reports on the 11th (local time), a U.S. military helicopter attacked a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, while the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen targeted a commercial ship near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the entrance of the Red Sea.

The U.S. Central Command stated that during today's incident, a Panamanian-flagged vessel attempted to violate the maritime blockade against Iran, prompting a U.S. Navy MH-60 helicopter to fire two Hellfire air-to-surface precision-guided missiles to neutralize it.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the vessel was attacked off the coast of Pakistan as it was entering the Gulf of Oman, and the safety of all 17 crew members has been confirmed.

Around the same time, in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the entrance of the Red Sea—an alternative route to Hormuz—the Houthis fired missiles targeting an Egyptian vessel.

According to the Yemeni government, Houthi rebels fired three ballistic missiles toward the Tihama, a small cargo ship owned by an Egyptian company, resulting in six deaths, including crew members.

This marks the first casualties resulting from Houthi attacks on commercial vessels since the outbreak of the Iran war on February 28.

The Houthis, a member of the Iran-led Axis of Resistance that champions anti-U.S. and anti-Israel sentiments, abruptly declared a maritime blockade against arch-rival Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea on the 20th of last month.

Since then, the Houthis have attacked vessels and turned the Red Sea into a dangerous trade route, which has resulted in strengthening Iran's leverage in negotiations by leveraging control over the Strait of Hormuz.

As the threat of war looms over the Red Sea alongside the Strait of Hormuz—the two major oil transit routes—international crude oil prices surged once again.

At the ICE Futures Exchange today, the price of Brent crude futures for October delivery settled up 1.4% at $88.91 per barrel.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange, the closing price for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for September delivery rose 1.3% from the previous session to $83.20 per barrel.

Meanwhile, mediators hinted at potential progress in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.

Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said in an interview with Bloomberg that the two countries are close to "some sort of agreement," adding that "signals seen over the past two to three days show that both sides are on the verge of reaching an agreement in some form."

Iran's state-run SNN network also reported that Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is scheduled to visit Tehran today to meet with Iranian officials.

However, there is still no concrete sign of a breakthrough for the two countries to return to the table, nor has any common ground been visibly forged through mediators.

Iran's conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz include the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East, the lifting of the maritime blockade against Iran, the payment of war reparations, the lifting of sanctions against Iran, the unfreezing of assets, and a ban on proxy attacks.

For the United States, reopening the Strait of Hormuz is an urgent matter, but there is no room to accept such demands from Iran, which essentially views the U.S. as a defeated party.

As a result, momentum is gathering behind the analysis that Iran might be deliberately displaying a stance determined for a protracted war, taking into account the political burden on U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of the midterm elections in November.

Amid this situation, the U.S. and Iran publicly maintained hard-line positions, engaging in a war of nerves.

President Trump, who has oscillated between negotiations and threats, waved both economic pressure and military strikes as his strategy against Iran during an interview with Real America's Voice today.

Threatening economic sanctions, he said, "We control their funds. Even if we just leave them alone, they will fail," while also leaving the door open for additional military action by mentioning another option: "hitting them really, really hard."

Iran fired back by amplifying hard-line rhetoric against the U.S.

Mohsen Rezaei, an ultra-hardliner and former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who took the helm of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), warned that Iran will not open the Strait of Hormuz unless the U.S. ends the war and unfreezes Iranian assets.

During a meeting with the Chinese ambassador, he criticized the U.S., stating, "The United States is the source of instability in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Gulf of Oman," and added that Washington "forced an illegal war on Iran, putting the entire region in danger."

He went on to pressure the U.S. to lift sanctions and return frozen assets, declaring, "The Strait of Hormuz will never be opened until the United States changes its attitude and accepts Iran's conditions."

(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.