US Fires On Ship Attempting To Break Iran Blockade, Amid Several Regional Maritime Attacks

Despite what are clearly ongoing attacks on international vessels in regional waters, suddenly mediators are feeling optimism again, and decided to float another apparent round of pre-US market open headlines suggesting peace could return.

Though there's as yet no evidence of this, the Pakistani Defense Minister has signaled that the US and Iran are close to some agreement and that the situation is moving towards peace. Oil prices promptly plummeted ahead of market open. Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi, has also just arrived in Tehran for talks with Iranian officials amid going mediation efforts, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.

This came ironically just as reports of more serious shipping incidents, at least one of them deadly, emerged in regional waters, but perhaps the brief 'peace is near' headline redux had its intended effect on markets.

And significantly, the US is clearly still enforcing its military blockade of Iranian ports - and so no, the warring sides do not seem 'close' to a return to deal-making, instead the ground reality is quite the opposite:

US forces reportedly fired on a Panama-flagged ship that attempted to run the American blockade of Iranian ports early Tuesday, according to WSJ citing a US official.

"A U.S. military helicopter fired at the rudder of the ship after its crew ignored warnings from American personnel working to enforce the naval blockade of Iran’s ports, the official said," The Wall Street Journal details:

"There were no immediate reports of any casualties in the incident, which took place before dawn on Tuesday. The U.S. official said the ship appeared to be attempting to transfer its crew to another civilian vessel after the attack," the report adds.

There's been a major deadly attack on a commercial ship in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait region off Yemen on Tuesday, amid the ongoing escalation against Saudi shipping by the Houthis.

Yemen's internationally recognized government has announced that at least three people have been killed in a Houthi attack on an unidentified commercial ship in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, however there's been no immediate confirmation forthcoming from the Houthis themselves.

The small vessel has been identified as the Tanzania-flagged Tihamah, and reports say this marks the first deaths from Houthi maritime attacks since the start of the Iran war in February.

According to emerging details in Reuters via maritime monitors:

UK Maritime Trade Operations said it ​had been informed that a cargo vessel off the coast of al-Mokha, Yemen, had been hit by an unknown projectile, resulting in casualties.

British maritime security company Ambrey said the ship was reportedly targeted and ​damaged by the Houthis, killing three crew members, while at anchor 3.3 nautical miles ​northeast of Perim Island, Yemen.

Two Pakistanis and one Indonesian person were killed as the ship sailed ‌from Salalah ⁠in Oman via Djibouti, the Yemeni sources said. After the attack, the crew lost control of the ship and were approached by Yemeni coast guard, they added.

And yet the stricken vessel does not appear to be Saudi-owned or operated, which could signal that the Houthis are expanding their siege of the waterway to include all foreign vessels and not just Saudi and Israeli-linked ones.

Further east, UKMTO also received a report of an incident involving a container ship and military forces in the Gulf of Oman.

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If this alleged incident which is closer to the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz is confirmed, it would likely be a directly Iranian-linked incident. WSJ details that "maritime security firm Vanguard reported that a Panama-flagged containership called Vela Nova was struck by a missile fired from a helicopter while transiting westbound through the Gulf of Oman about 71 nautical miles from the coast of Pakistan."

"The missile struck the vessel, causing a fire that was subsequently extinguished," said Vanguard, noting that all 17 crewmembers are accounted for.

Since joining the regional conflict on Iran's side, the Houthis - which have long been seen as proxies of Tehran, have attacked dozens of vessels after declaring their "siege for siege" operations against Saudi Arabia.

Overnight Developments

• Iran’s new supreme leader, Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, is putting his own stamp on the country’s national-security policy amid a confrontation with the U.S. that could last months or even years. In a sweeping overhaul of the government’s top echelon on Sunday and Monday, Iran named seasoned hard-liners to run the country’s security policies and institutions of repression. WSJ
• Persian Gulf energy producers are concluding that Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz will become permanent, disrupting their oil and gas exports and global energy supplies indefinitely. The problem is they worry the alternative—going back to war—would be worse. WSJ
• There was a maritime incident reported in Bab al-Mandab, with Fars reporting that a Saudi ship was reportedly targeted by the Yemeni army. In other news, 
• Yemeni sources said a second missile targeted a ship while the coast guard was rescuing its crew in Bab al-Mandab.
• The UKMTO has received a report of an incident involving a tanker and military forces in the Gulf of Oman.
• Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said the world should hold the US accountable for the Hormuz block, while Hormuz security requires end to US aggression, according to Fars News Agency.
• Yemen military source said government forces launched a concentrated attack on militia positions in Harib, Shabwa, according to Al Arabiya.
• Explosions reported in Yemen's Marib, according to SNN.
• Lebanon and Israel are expected to hold the next round of talks in early September, according to Al-Arabiya.
• Israeli forces conducted new strikes in southern Lebanon, according to SNN.