First cracks after the June 17 MOU
Less than two weeks after the 14-point memorandum reopened Hormuz on paper, commercial ships were hit again.
On June 25, the Singapore-flagged container ship Ever Lovely was struck by a projectile about 14 kilometers southeast of Oman’s port of Dahit, Al Jazeera later summarized. No one was injured, and the vessel continued its voyage.
On June 27, the Panama-flagged tanker Kiku was hit by what US Central Command described as a one-way attack drone while carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil. No crew members were injured and no oil leaked, according to the same account.
Strikes for strikes
The United States blamed Iran and struck cities along Iran’s southern coast on June 26 and June 27. Iran retaliated with strikes on US bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. Then both sides agreed to hold talks, pausing the immediate exchange.
That sequence is the first clear post-MOU loop: ship attack, coastal retaliation, Gulf-base counterstrike, temporary stand-down.
What it exposed
The June memorandum promised safe commercial passage and a stop to military operations. Late June showed how thin that promise was when ships used contested corridors and both sides still had forces in place.
It also prefigured early July. The larger Al Rekayyat / Wedyan attacks on July 6-7 and Trump’s July 13 blockade-and-toll announcement grow directly out of this late-June failure.
Sources
- Al Jazeera, July 9, 2026 Hormuz explainer: Ever Lovely June 25; Kiku June 27; US coastal strikes; Iranian retaliation in Bahrain and Kuwait; talks/stand-down sequence
- Cross-check: June 17 MOU article on no-charge passage and war-stop language
