Oman hopes Hormuz meeting fill force Trump to ‘recognize that the future of the strait will be decided by regional countries,’ Iran expert says

An Iranian cargo vessel was struck early Sunday off Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz , Iranian state media said, a day before Tehran plans to brief countries in the region on its contested efforts to manage shipping traffic there.

The attack, which the reports said killed one and wounded four, drew attention back to the strait after threats to shipping in the region intensified last week when Iran-backed Houthi rebels captured an island on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea .

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency quoted the Qeshm governor as blaming a “terrorist enemy” for Sunday’s attack.

There was no immediate comment by the U.S. military, which has struck Iranian-flagged vessels during its blockade of Iranian ports and faces a new threat from Iranian ballistic missiles launched at its warships .

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations monitor said a vessel was hit by a projectile while transiting the strait, though it wasn’t clear if this was referring to the same attack.

The monitor said a fire had broken out and that local authorities were evacuating those on board.

Qeshm Island, about 14 miles (22 kilometers) from the port city of Bandar Abbas , is key to Iran asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Hours before the attack, Iran’s government remained defiant.

“Our people can’t be bullied into submission.

Iran won’t surrender,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a social media post.

Iran aims to brief regional countries on the strait Iran has said foreign ministers from regional countries will meet Monday in Oman to discuss efforts by Iran and Oman, located on the other side of the strait, to manage shipping on it.

The meeting returns regional focus to the Strait of Hormuz days after the Houthis swept down Yemen’s Red Sea coast to apply new pressure to a crucial alternative for global shipping.

While the Houthis say they are targeting only neighboring Saudi Arabia , which backs Yemen’s internationally recognized government fighting the rebels, markets are wary and oil prices have risen again.

Commercial ship traffic remains low in the Strait of Hormuz as attacks continue on what was seen as an international waterway before the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb.