# Projectile Hits Ship in Strait of Hormuz as Iranian Commercial Vessel Attacked Near Key Gulf Islands

*Sunday, September 13, 2026 at 6:16 AM UTC — Hamer Intelligence Services Desk*

**Published**: 2026-09-13T06:16:08.040Z (2h ago)
**Category**: geopolitics | **Region**: Middle East
**Importance**: 8/10
**Sources**: OSINT
**Permalink**: https://hamerintel.com/data/articles/17676.md
**Source**: https://hamerintel.com/summaries

---

**Deck**: A vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz was struck by a projectile and an Iranian commercial ship was attacked near Hengam and Qeshm islands, leaving one dead and three injured, amid sharper Iranian rhetoric over U.S. power in the waterway and its wider regional role.

Two reported attacks on ships near the Strait of Hormuz have added fresh risk to one of the world’s most sensitive shipping lanes, against a backdrop of sharper rhetoric from Tehran.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a projectile struck a vessel while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The alert did not give details on the ship’s identity, flag, cargo or damage, but any incident involving live fire in this narrow channel is closely watched by shipowners and governments.

Separately, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported that an Iranian commercial vessel was attacked near Hengam and Qeshm islands, which lie close to the Strait. According to that report, one person was killed and three were injured. IRIB did not specify who might have been responsible or what kind of weapon was used.

The twin incidents came as Iranian officials challenged U.S. claims about control of the waterway. An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy political deputy, responding to remarks by former U.S. President Donald Trump that the United States controls the Strait of Hormuz, said that if that were the case the U.S. should move one of its warships to within 100 kilometres. The comments were carried by Fars news agency.

Iran’s president has also been sharpening his language toward Washington and its allies. President Masoud Pezeshkian said that with their technologies, the United States and Israel are “the real terrorists in the world,” accusing them of assassinations in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, Qatar and inside Iran. He argued that they “assassinate anybody they wish, and then they claim that these people are terrorists,” and described it as a “weird world” in which powerful states “kill people very easily for a single person.”

On Iran’s nuclear programme, Pezeshkian said the United States is “doing propaganda” and that “it is just propaganda.” He stated that if Iran were seeking nuclear weapons it would not have become a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and accused Washington of using “alibis and pretexts to attack our soil,” calling the accusations “lies.”

Pezeshkian also criticised former U.S. President Donald Trump’s shifting messages about Iran, saying Trump alternates between threats to destroy Iran and statements that the U.S. is a friend of Iran, and that Iranian officials are not sure which statements to take as a basis for decisions. On regional conflicts, he said, “We are not in war with Saudi Arabia and the Houthis have their own problems.”

Taken together, the ship attacks near Hengam and Qeshm, the projectile strike in the Strait of Hormuz, and the rhetoric from Iranian officials underline how quickly tensions around this chokepoint can rise. Signals to watch include any changes in naval deployments, new routing advice from maritime authorities, and whether further projectile or other attacks are reported near the Strait or in adjacent Gulf waters.