Iran ceasefire below menace after cargo ship set on hearth whereas ‘hostile drones’ enter Kuwait
The fragile ceasefire in the Iran war has again come under threat after a cargo ship caught fire after being hit by an unknown projectile off Qatar‘s coast.
It came as Kuwait’s military said it detected and dealt with ‘several hostile drones’ in the country’s airspace at dawn, marking the first such incident since the ceasefire came into effect in April.
In Sunday’s naval attack, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) said that the strike caused a small fire on the cargo ship, which was extinguished.
The attack happened 43km northeast of Qatar’s capital, Doha, the UKMTO said.
There were no reported casualties, it said. It gave no details on the owner or origin of the ship, and there was no claim of responsibility.
But Qatar said the attack is a ‘serious escalation’ that threatens the security of maritime traffic and vital supplies in the region.
There have been several attacks against ships in the Persian Gulf over the past week.
On Friday, the US struck two Iranian oil tankers after it said that the vessels were trying to breach its blockade of Iran’s ports.
Cargo ships in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026
US President Donald Trump has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran doesn’t accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear program
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy on Sunday reiterated its warning that any attack on Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels would be met with a ‘heavy assault’ on one of the US bases in the region and enemy ships.
In Kuwait, Defence Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al Otaibi said that hostile drones entered Kuwait’s airspace early Sunday, and that forces responded ‘in accordance with established procedures.’
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
US President Donald Trump has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran doesn’t accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear program.
Iran has mostly blocked the critical waterway for global energy since joint strikes on February 28 by the US and Israel launched the war, which has caused a global spike in fuel prices and rattled world markets.
The attacks in Kuwait were the latest threats to a month-old ceasefire, which the Trump administration says remains in effect.
It has faced difficulties, with Iran restricting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway key to the global flow of oil, and the US imposing a blockade of Iranian ports.
Washington has been awaiting Iran’s response to a new proposal for a deal to end the war, reopen the strait to shipping and roll back Iran’s nuclear program.
One of the main sticking points in the negotiations is the fate of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
The UN nuclear agency says Iran has more than 440kg of uranium that is enriched up to 60 per cent purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels.
The Isfahan facility was bombarded by US-Israeli airstrikes in the 12-day war last year, and faced less intense attacks in this year’s war
In an interview with Iranian state media, a spokesman for the Iranian military said that forces were on ‘full readiness’ to protect nuclear sites where the uranium is stored.
‘We considered it possible that they might intend to steal it through infiltration operations or heliborne operations,’ Brig. Gen. Akrami Nia told the IRNA news agency late Saturday. He didn’t offer further details.
The majority of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is likely still at its Isfahan nuclear complex, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi revealed last month.
The Isfahan facility was bombarded by US-Israeli airstrikes in the 12-day war last year, and faced less intense attacks in this year’s war.
Earlier this week, air defences in the United Arab Emirates engaged two Iranian ballistic missiles and three drones, leaving three people injured.
Kuwait had previously said its air defences dealt with Iranian missiles and drones during the war, including a wave of Iranian drones on April 8 that targeted vital infrastructure.
