Three cargo ships attacked in Strait of Hormuz after Trump extends ceasefire

Three cargo ships came under fire in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, according to the British maritime agency. UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the first vessel was "attacked by an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) gunboat". Nour News said the IRGC opened fire on the ship after it had "ignored the warnings of the Iranian armed forces". BBC Verify reported a second ship was stopped after being "fired upon", while a third was also targeted trying to transit the strait on Wednesday. Fars News Agency said the Revolutionary Guard was behind the three attacks.

These reports come hours after US President Donald Trump announced an extension to the ceasefire with Iran until talks come to a conclusion. The initial two-week truce between the US and Iran was due to expire on Wednesday, but Trump said he had been asked to hold off on attacking Iran by Pakistan. Trump said the US blockade of Iran's ports would continue and that the Islamic republic was "collapsing financially" due to the blockade of Hormuz. Mahdi Mohammadi said the move by the US president is "certainly a ploy to buy time for a surprise strike". Mohammadi added: "The time for Iran to take the initiative has come."

BBC Verify understands that the first ship targeted by the IRGC on Wednesday morning is called the Epaminondas. The second cargo ship targeted in the strait is the Panama-flagged Euphoria. Later on Wednesday, a third cargo ship - Panama-flagged MSC Francesca - was targeted about six nautical miles off the coast of Iran. The initial two-week ceasefire brought some respite to the Middle East region, which had been engulfed for weeks in war since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. On April 8, Iran and the **