Hormuz Evacuation Halted by Drone
UN Halts Strait of Hormuz Ship Evacuation After Iranian Drone Strikes British Vessel
An Iranian drone struck a British-linked vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on June 25, forcing the United Nations to halt its emergency evacuation of ships trapped in the Persian Gulf. The attack hit the Singapore-flagged container ship Ever Lovely — owned by Taiwan's Evergreen — on its bridge, about 7.5 nautical miles southeast of Dahit, Oman, according to CBS News.
IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez announced a total pause of the evacuation plan, saying he needed to "reconfirm that the necessary safety guarantees continue to be in place." Over 11,000 seafarers remain stranded in the war risk zone, according to UN News.
How the Drone Strike Unraveled a Fragile Peace Deal
The attack came just days after the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding was signed on June 17 by President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The deal ended the 2026 Iran War and opened a 60-day window for peace talks, according to NPR. Under the deal, Iran agreed to allow toll-free passage through the Strait for 60 days.
By June 23, the UN's International Maritime Organization had launched its Phased Evacuation Framework to move roughly 500 to 600 stranded ships out of the Gulf. On June 24, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said 72 ships had transited the Strait in a single day — about half of pre-war levels. Then, hours before the strike, Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned that UN-backed routes were "unacceptable and completely dangerous," according to The Washington Post.
Iran Demands Control Over Who Uses the Strait
At the heart of the crisis is a fight over routes. The UN backs a "Southern Route" hugging the Omani coastline. Iran insists ships use a "Northern Route" run by its newly created Persian Gulf Strait Authority. Iran targeted the Ever Lovely because it used the UN-backed route, which Tehran calls unauthorized, according to Al-Monitor.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf made Tehran's position clear: "Everyone needs to know that management of the strait will never return to the way it was before." Iran projects it can earn $40 billion a year from "security and environmental fees" on ships, according to the Wall Street Journal. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking from Bahrain, shot back: "No country has the right to charge for international waterways."
Oil Prices Jump as Global Markets Feel the Shock
Markets reacted fast. Brent crude oil prices jumped 4%, reaching nearly $75 a barrel right after the attack, according to Al Jazeera. Stock markets in Tokyo and Seoul fell more than 3%. Energy analysts said the "geopolitical risk premium" had returned to oil prices, according to Reuters.
Before the attack, 13.4 million barrels of oil had moved through the Strait on June 24 alone — the highest single-day count since the war began. About 80 naval mines still block the main pre-war shipping lane, according to The Guardian. Daily ship transits had recovered to roughly 70, up from near zero during the conflict, but well below the pre-war average of 138.
Trump Warns of Renewed Bombing If Iran Breaks the Deal
President Trump spoke at a White House dinner on June 25, saying: "We knocked the hell out of them... Iran wants to make a deal." He had previously warned that any violation of the Islamabad MOU would cause the U.S. to "go back to bombing the country again," according to Fox News.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the attack as "reckless" and urged all sides to stick to the diplomatic path, according to KOMO News. Fourteen seafarers have been killed since the conflict began in February, according to the IMO. With the evacuation paused and mines still in the water, hundreds of ships and thousands of crew members remain stuck — waiting to see if the fragile peace holds.
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