US deploys Ukrainian counter-drone system at Saudi base - Reuters

Britain welcomed the extension of the US-Iran ceasefire on Wednesday and called for talks to resume.

“The UK welcomes the ceasefire extension. We want to see negotiations restart, a comprehensive settlement and full reopening of the Strait without restrictions or tolls,” Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Wednesday.

She warned that any return to hostilities would be a major setback for the region, the global economy and the cost of living.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said it had seized two vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and directed them toward Iranian shores, hours after Donald Trump said the United States would extend a ceasefire with Iran.

In a statement, the Guards said the vessels, identified as MSC Francesca and Epaminodes, had violated maritime regulations and endangered navigation by manipulating their tracking systems.

It said the ships were detained and escorted to Iran’s coast, adding that disruption to security in the Strait of Hormuz was a “red line,” referring to the US blockade of Iranian ports.

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In a statement, the Guards said the vessels, identified as MSC Francesca and Epaminodes, had violated maritime regulations and endangered navigation by manipulating their tracking systems.

It said the ships were detained and escorted to Iran’s coast, adding that disruption to security in the Strait of Hormuz was a “red line,” referring to the US blockade of Iranian ports.

Vessels under fire

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said earlier on Wednesday that two cargo vessels were fired upon in separate incidents in the strait.

It said a container ship northeast of Oman reported being approached by an IRGC gunboat, which opened fire without radio contact, causing heavy damage to the vessel’s bridge. All crew were safe and no fire or environmental impact was reported.

In a separate incident west of Iran, an outbound cargo ship reported being fired upon and had stopped in the water. Its crew were safe and there was no reported damage, UKMTO said.

The IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency said three vessels — Euphoria, MSC Francesca and Epaminodes — were targeted.

Trump said on Tuesday he would extend a fragile ceasefire with Iran indefinitely, even as plans for new talks stalled.

The incidents come amid heightened tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route that previously handled about one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas flows.

The report, published on Wednesday, focused on the Strait of Hormuz not only as an energy chokepoint but as a critical corridor for submarine cables serving countries around the Persian Gulf, including the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

It argued that several major cable systems pass through or near the waterway and said the southern side of the Persian Gulf depends far more heavily than Iran on maritime internet routes.

Rather than reading as a neutral technical explainer, the article appeared to frame those cables, landing stations and data hubs as strategic pressure points in the conflict.

Tasnim also drew attention to the concentration of cloud and data-center infrastructure in states on the southern side of the Persian Gulf, especially the UAE and Bahrain, effectively sketching a map of assets whose disruption could carry major economic and communications consequences.

That warning carries added weight because digital infrastructure has already come under attack in this war.

Recent reporting said Iranian drone strikes hit Amazon Web Services facilities in the UAE and Bahrain, underlining the physical vulnerability of commercial cloud infrastructure in the Persian Gulf.

The Tasnim article suggests Iran-linked media are signaling that undersea cables and regional data hubs now sit alongside ports, shipping lanes and energy facilities in the conflict’s widening map of pressure points.

At least 34 tankers linked to Iran have bypassed the US blockade since it began, the Financial Times reported, citing cargo tracking group Vortexa.

The report said 19 of the vessels exited the Persian Gulf through the blockade, while 15 entered from the Arabian Sea heading toward Iran.

Six of the outbound tankers were carrying Iranian crude, with total cargoes of about 10.7 million barrels, it said.

Based on an assumed $10 discount to Brent crude, the shipments were estimated to represent roughly $910 million in revenue.

Iranian oil is typically sold at a discount because it is under sanctions.