Oil briefly dipped below $73 a barrel on Thursday — its last pre-war price — suggesting that markets had begun to believe the Persian Gulf crisis was easing. Within hours, a vessel was struck by a projectile off the coast of Oman, and the United Nations abruptly suspended the evacuation of stranded ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The gap between financial optimism and geopolitical reality had rarely been more visible. The International Maritime Organization had been coordinating a plan to move vessels out of the Persian Gulf along a UN-backed route.

Arsenio Dominguez, the IMO's secretary general, announced that the programme would be placed on hold until safety guarantees could be confirmed for all ships on the evacuation list. The targeted vessel was not part of the convoy effort, and the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre reported that it sustained damage but caused no injuries or environmental harm. No party has yet claimed responsibility for the strike, and the type of vessel involved remained unclear at the time of publication. Iran's position, however, was stated plainly.

Shortly after the attack was reported, the country's newly established Persian Gulf strait authority posted on X that transits conducted outside its own designated routes would not be covered by any guarantee of safe passage.