By Frank Andrews
April 22, 2026 / 5:57 AM EDT / CBS News
Two ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz early Wednesday, the British military said, raising fresh doubts about efforts to resume peace talks between the U.S. and Iran.
The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) reported that an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps “gun boat” fired on a container ship about 15 nautical miles northeast of Oman. The attack came without a radio warning, the Royal Navy-led UKMTO said, causing heavy damage to the ship’s bridge. All crew were reported safe.
About three hours later the UKMTO logged a second incident, roughly 8 nautical miles west of Iran, where a cargo ship reported it had been fired on and was “now stopped in the water.” The crew were “safe and accounted for.” The UKMTO did not identify the attacker in that incident.
Ship-tracking data showed two container ships stopped off Iran’s coast near the strait early Wednesday: the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca and the Greek-operated Epaminondas. Sources told the Financial Times those were the vessels involved. The companies that own the ships did not respond to CBS News requests for comment.
Reuters reported a third ship was struck by gunfire in the strait Wednesday, but the UKMTO did not confirm that to CBS News.
The incidents occurred after President Trump announced on Tuesday that a fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran would be extended to allow more time for negotiations. Trump said he granted the extension after a request from Pakistan, which hosted the first round of talks, and blamed Iran’s fractured government for delays. He said he directed the U.S. military to continue the blockade and would extend the ceasefire “until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded.”
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said Tuesday that Iran had not requested the extension. Mahdi Mohammadi, a senior adviser to Iran’s parliament speaker, posted that the extension “means nothing” and called the continuation of the blockade effectively bombardment that “must be met with a military response,” calling the extension a “ploy to buy time for a surprise strike.”
The attacks follow U.S. actions over the weekend in the region, when U.S. forces fired on and seized an Iranian container ship and boarded an oil tanker linked to Iran’s oil trade in the Indian Ocean.
Joanne Stocker contributed to this report.