WASHINGTON, May 08 (Agencies): US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was still in place despite an Iranian attack on three American destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, which he dismissed as "a trifle."
The US military said it carried out strikes on Iranian military targets in response, although Tehran charged that it was Washington that had initiated the exchange of fire.
The violence threatened to unravel a fragile truce in effect since April 8 that brought an end to weeks of US-Israeli attacks on the Islamic republic, which has retaliated with strikes across the Middle East and by blocking the strait, a vital route for oil and gas shipments.
Asked in Washington if the Iran ceasefire was still on, Trump said: "Yeah it is. They trifled with us today. We blew them away. They trifled. I call that a trifle."
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X that Iranian forces launched "multiple missiles, drones and small boats" at the three US warships, but none were hit, and that it "eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible."
"CENTCOM does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces," it said.
Earlier, Iran has seized the oil tanker Ocean Koi in the Gulf of Oman over an alleged attempt to disrupt Iran's oil exports, Iranian state media said on Friday, quoting an army statement.
It said the Barbados-flagged tanker was carrying Iranian oil and "was trying to harm and disrupt oil exports .... by exploiting regional conditions".
The oil tanker - which has been under US sanctions since February - was escorted to the southern coast of Iran and handed over to the judicial authorities, according to state media.
The seizure came after US and Iranian forces clashed in the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman.
Meanwhile, US and Iranian forces clashed in the Gulf and the United Arab Emirates came under renewed attack, but President Donald Trump said a ceasefire was still holding despite the flare-up, which dented hopes for a swift diplomatic resolution to the crisis.
The escalation came as Washington awaited Tehran's response to a US proposal to end the war, which began on February 28 when the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran.
Saudi Arabia's deputy minister for public diplomacy, Rayed Krimly, denied on Thursday that the Kingdom had authorised the use of its airspace to support offensive military operations, amid mounting regional tensions and reports circulating online about the Kingdom's position in the ongoing confrontation involving Iran.
In his post on X he wrote: "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to stand in support of de-escalation and avoiding escalation, as well as negotiations and the efforts undertaken regarding them, and caution must be exercised with what is attributed in the media to anonymous sources - some of which are claimed to be Saudi - in a manner that contradicts that."
Meloni meets Rubio as Iran
war strains Italy-US ties
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday at a moment of unusual strain between her government and President Donald Trump's administration, driven largely by the war with Iran.
Rubio is in Italy for a two-day trip aimed at easing ties with Pope Leo after unprecedented attacks on the pontiff by Trump, while also addressing Washington's frustration over Italy's refusal to support the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Meloni had been one of Trump's firmest supporters in Europe, cultivating close ties with him and presenting herself as a natural bridge between Washington and other EU states that had no natural political affinity with the Republican US leader.
Meanwhile, around 1,500 ships and their crews are trapped in the Gulf due to the Iranian blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) chief said in Panama Thursday.
The war in the Middle East, unleashed February 28 by Israel and the United States against Iran, provoked reprisals from Tehran across the region and a shipping blockade in Hormuz, a crucial global trade route.
"Right now, we have approximately 20,000 crewmen and around 1,500 ships trapped," IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez told the Maritime Convention of the Americas. Dominguez said that maritime shipping moves over 80 per cent of total consumed products in the world.
The stranded crew members "are innocent people who are doing their jobs every day for the benefit of other countries," but "are trapped by geopolitical situations outside their control," Dominguez told the gathering of industry executives and IMO representatives.
"Ten sailors have lost their lives" in more than 30 attacks on vessels, he later told reporters.
The IMO chief urged avoiding sending vessels to the Gulf so as not to increase the death toll among sailors or incur further economic losses.
Before the conflict's outbreak, a fifth of the world's total petroleum and gas passed through the Strait of Hormuz. The closure has led to a significant global surge in the price of hydrocarbons.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced a naval operation to escort the trapped ships and force the opening of the strait, but called off the push shortly after.
Washington is now waiting for an Iranian response to proposals for ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
But that alignment has come under increasing strain in recent months, as the Iran war has forced her to balance loyalty to the United States against Italian public animosity to the war and the growing economic cost of the conflict.
Before heading to the prime minister's office, Rubio met Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who said the talks had been positive.
"I am convinced that Europe needs America, Italy needs America, but the United States also needs Europe and Italy," Tajani told reporters.
Meloni and Rubio were expected to discuss the situation in the Gulf, as well as Russia's war on Ukraine, US tariffs on European goods and the outlook for Cuba, which Washington is seeking to isolate both diplomatically and economically.
The Italians will also be keen for a readout on Rubio's meetings at the Vatican. Trump's recent attacks on Pope Leo crossed a sensitive line in overwhelmingly Catholic Italy and prompted Meloni to call them "unacceptable."
Her criticism in turn drew a sharp rebuke from Trump, who said she lacked courage and had let Washington down. He subsequently threatened to withdraw US troops from Italy.
Meloni said on Monday she would not support such a move, but acknowledged that the decision "doesn't depend on me".
Italy last month refused to allow US aircraft to use the Sigonella air base in Sicily for combat operations linked to the Iran conflict. Italian officials have said Washington had not sought prior authorisation from Rome for the use of the site.
Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, a close Meloni ally, later warned that the Iran war was putting US global leadership at risk and said he feared the "madness" of nuclear escalation.
Pollsters say Meloni's ties to Trump could prove a potential liability with voters ahead of national elections due next year.
© 2026 - All Rights with The Financial Express
