The ceasefire was already fragile. The Iranian delegation had barely landed in Doha. And then the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy fired on a US oil tanker attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

That is the situation as of the early hours of May 28. According to IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News, an American oil tanker entered the strait with its radar system switched off — a provocation, in Tehran’s framing — and was turned back after IRGC naval forces fired toward the vessel. The US struck what it described as a “burnt area” near Bandar Abbas in response. No casualties were reported on either side.