US-Iran Ceasefire Holds Amid Missile Strikes Near Strait of Hormuz

A fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran officially remained in place on Tuesday, even after Iranian missile and drone strikes on the United Arab Emirates and a fierce naval clash near the Strait of Hormuz that saw U.S. forces destroy at least six Iranian boats, according to U.S. officials npr +1. Oil prices, already elevated by weeks of tension, seesawed above $110 a barrel as markets digested the risk of wider disruption to Gulf energy exports msn +1.

The latest escalation unfolded just weeks after a U.S.–Iran truce took effect in early April, following sweeping U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that had drawn missile barrages across the region dw. On Monday and into Tuesday, the UAE reported incoming fire from Iran, while U.S. Central Command said its forces intercepted waves of missiles and drones and opened fire on Iranian small craft threatening commercial shipping in and around the chokepoint npr +1.

A Ceasefire in Name Only?

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted the ceasefire “certainly” still held, describing the exchanges as below the threshold for a return to full-scale war and framing U.S. actions as defensive moves to protect shipping lanes npr +1. He said Washington had established a “red, white and blue dome” of missile defenses over the strait as part of “Project Freedom,” a new operation launched May 4 to escort stranded commercial vessels through Hormuz dw +1.

Iran and its allies portrayed the same events very differently. Tehran denied U.S. claims that its boats were destroyed, accused Washington of breaching the truce, and released a map asserting expanded maritime control that extended into waters off UAE ports such as Fujairah and Khorfakkan npr. Iran’s parliamentary speaker warned that the Islamic Republic had “not even begun yet,” hinting at further retaliation if U.S. operations continued npr +1.

UAE Under Fire and Markets on Edge

In the UAE, authorities said air defences engaged at least 15 missiles and several drones launched from Iran, with one strike sparking a fire at an oil facility in the Fujairah oil zone that injured three Indian workers reuters. Regional governments including Gulf states and Egypt condemned the attacks on Emirati infrastructure and shipping, calling them a dangerous escalation dw +1.

The violence rippled quickly through energy and financial markets. Brent crude, which had spiked above $126 a barrel late last month during earlier war scares, traded around $111–113 on Monday and Tuesday, while U.S. benchmark WTI hovered just above $104 msn +1. Analysts warned that prolonged disruption at Hormuz — a corridor that previously carried about a fifth of globally traded oil and gas — could further fuel inflation and slow global growth, even as some shipping firms and insurers remained unwilling to resume normal transits despite U.S. assurances dw +1.

The Bigger Picture

Behind the immediate clashes, a patchwork of diplomacy has tried to keep the ceasefire from collapsing entirely. Pakistan has acted as a go‑between for Washington and Tehran, including arranging the transfer of crew from a seized Iranian vessel as a confidence-building step, while China and European powers have pushed for a coordinated reopening of Hormuz rather than unilateral action dw +1. For now, the guns around the strait have quieted enough for both sides to claim the truce still stands — but with missiles flying at the UAE, disputed naval engagements, and oil markets on a knife-edge, the line between “ceasefire” and open conflict appeared increasingly thin.