Iran strikes French-operated container ship in Strait of Hormuz despite US naval escort

Iran attacked Marseille-based CMA CGM's container ship San Antonio in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday evening, with a drone or cruise missile fired from the Iranian mainland setting the Maltese-flagged vessel's engine room on fire and injuring several crew members, the shipping company said Wednesday. The ship was transiting the strait under escort by US Navy warships and US Air Force aircraft as part of Project Freedom when struck; it had switched off its tracking signal before entering the chokepoint, leaving the exact location of the impact unclear. Injured seafarers have been evacuated and are receiving medical care.

French government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said France itself was not the target — the San Antonio was not flying the French flag and had no French sailors aboard. President Emmanuel Macron planned a phone call Wednesday with the Iranian president. "The strikes that targeted a CMA CGM vessel clearly show that the situation remains dangerous," Bregeon said. "Both the Iranians and the Americans must understand that it is in the common interest for traffic to resume freely."

President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that Project Freedom would pause "for a short time, to see if the agreement can be finalized and signed or not," citing "great progress" toward a "complete and final" deal with Tehran. The US blockade of Iranian ports remains in full force, Trump wrote. Speaking in the Oval Office, he said the Iranian military was so weakened it was firing "pea pistols," but added that, public sabre-rattling aside, Tehran wanted peace. The prospect of de-escalation pushed oil prices lower.

At a Pentagon press conference, Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine said Iran had attacked US forces more than ten times since the ceasefire announced in early April, fired on commercial vessels nine times and seized two container ships. On Monday alone, Iran struck the United Arab Emirates three times and Oman once, and used cruise missiles, drones and fast boats against US forces working to reopen Hormuz to merchant traffic; US helicopter gunships repelled the attacks. Roughly 22,500 seafarers aboard more than 1,550 commercial ships are now stranded in the Persian Gulf, Caine said. US land, sea and air forces have established a reinforced security zone in the southern strait near Oman; Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth called it a "powerful red, white and blue" shield.

Two US-flagged merchantmen have passed the strait under US Navy destroyer escort: chemical tanker CS Anthem, operated by Crowley-Stena Marine Solutions, and Maersk subsidiary Farrell Lines' car carrier Alliance Fairfax. Hegseth said Project Freedom was a strictly defensive mission, that the ceasefire "is not over," and that the two successful transits proved the operation worked. "We know the Iranians are disappointed by it. They say they control the strait, but they don't," he said. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior officials had said Tuesday that Iran could not be allowed to retain control of a waterway critical to global oil supply and trade. Rubio also held a phone call with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, at Lavrov's request, on the Iran and Ukraine wars.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing as the strike unfolded. Wang called for an immediate, complete halt to fighting and the swiftest possible reopening of Hormuz, noting that Kpler data show more than half of China's seaborne crude imports come through the Gulf region and most of that through the strait. Wang said China welcomed Iran's pledge not to develop nuclear weapons but said Tehran retained the "legitimate right to peaceful use of nuclear energy." Araghchi said Iran would accept only "a fair and comprehensive agreement" and would do "everything possible to protect our legitimate rights and interests" in negotiations. He did not directly address Trump's offer to pause the escort mission.

Iran has rolled out a permit regime to control transit through Hormuz: ship operators must email a newly-named Persian Gulf Strait Authority for clearance and follow Iranian rules, state broadcaster Press TV reported, adding that the mechanism is already in operation. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned via the Fars news agency that any vessel using unapproved routes would face a "decisive response," and that the only safe corridor was the one Iran had previously announced. Iran's central military command denied carrying out attacks on the UAE this week — even as the Emirati defence ministry reported a second consecutive day of inbound rockets and drones, with civil-defence authorities urging residents to shelter and avoid touching debris. Iranian forces had earlier framed Monday's strike, which set oil installations at Fujairah on fire, as a response to the US push to reopen Hormuz; Trump renewed his threat to destroy Iran in reply.

Separately, the United States has begun circulating a draft proposal among partners for a new multinational naval coalition for the Middle East called the Maritime Freedom Construct, intended to guarantee passage through Hormuz once the situation stabilises and to provide a post-conflict security framework, according to a US government draft seen by Reuters. The MFC would coordinate with — but remain organisationally separate from — an existing Franco-British naval mission of roughly 30 countries that has been working with Iran on safe passage; some governments say any military deployment would first require a UN mandate.

Vespucci Maritime CEO Lars Jensen said the volatile situation meant shippers were likely to adopt a "wait-and-see" approach before resuming normal routes through the strait, even if corridors reopen. The UK Maritime Trade Operations logged a string of incidents in the days before the San Antonio strike: a cargo vessel hit by an unknown projectile in the strait Tuesday, a ship reported on fire off the UAE coast Monday, a tanker struck by projectiles off Fujairah Sunday, and a bulk carrier attacked by multiple small craft near Iranian waters.