envisaged the lifting of parallel US and Iranian blockades on the strait, which have been driving up oil prices and stifling the global economy, with an emphasis on the lifting of sanctions and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
The announcement of a new response from Tehran came on a day when the Pakistan-brokered ceasefire, which came into effect on 8 April, showed new signs of strain. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait reported drone incursions in their airspace on Sunday, and a drone attack started a small fire on a ship on the coast of Qatar.
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Another drone strike was reported at a camp used by an Iranian Kurdish rebel group near Erbil in north-eastern Iraq.
Qatar’s defence ministry did not give details of the vessel targeted on Sunday, other than that it had come from Abu Dhabi. The UAE defence ministry said it had shot down the drones which entered its airspace, and which it said were Iranian.
Kuwait’s defence ministry spokesperson said its forces had dealt with drones which entered the country’s airspace early on Sunday, “in accordance with established procedures”, without attributing responsibility for the incursion.
Meanwhile, Iran’s deputy foreign minister warned against a planned French-British effort that aims to support maritime security in the Strait after hostilities are over. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, responded by saying it would not be a military deployment but an international mission to secure shipping when conditions allow.
Tensions have flared under the truce as both the US and Iran have sought to assert their control of the Hormuz strait. On 4 May, Donald Trump launched what he called Project Freedom, which was supposed to provide a route out of the Gulf for the hundreds of ships trapped by the war.
Iran, which closed the strait after the initial US-Israeli attack on 28 February, responded with attacks on US naval vessels, commercial vessels and oil facilities in the UAE, a close ally of the US and Israel.
Trump called off Project Freedom after 36 hours and the passage of just two US-flagged ships. Saudi Arabia had refused permission for US forces to use its bases and airspace for the operation.
