• New Delhi, UAE condemn sinking of Indian vessel; another ship anchored at Fujairah ‘boarded’, steered towards Iran
• IRGC says Chinese ships transited through Hormuz

TEHRAN: After a tense meeting of the Brics forum in New Delhi, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has made a flurry of statements on renewed US and Israeli threats against his country and the war in general, saying that Iran would not bow down before a ‘military solution’.

“We are used to these threats,” he told the IRNA news agency.

“They have been repeating their threats in various forms and ways for a long time, but they themselves know that they have not and will not get any results from these threats and even from the war they launched.”

He said there is no military solution to the issues related to Iran, adding that Iran will “not bow down”.

Araghchi added that the other side should know that it must seek solutions to the issues with Iran in a place other than the military arena.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday that naval forces had allowed a number of Chinese ships to pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz since the previous night.

The announcement came amid reports that a ship anchored off Fujairah had been boarded and was being steered towards Iran, and that another Indian cargo vessel carrying livestock from Africa to the United Arab Emirates was sunk in waters off the coast of Oman.

“It was ultimately concluded that a number of Chinese ships requested by this country would pass through this area after an agreement on Iran’s strait management protocols,” the IRGCsaid in a statement.

Iranian state television said “more than 30 ships” had been allowed to pass, although it was not clear if they were all Chinese.

According to British maritime security agency UKMTO, “unauthorised personnel” had boarded a ship anchored off the coast of the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah, and were steering it towards Iran.

“The company security officer reported that the vessel was taken by Iranian personnel while at anchor,” Vanguard said.

According to shipping analytics firm Kpler, some 10 ships had sailed through the strait in the past 24 hours, only a slight increase from the five to seven ships that have crossed daily in recent weeks.

India’s foreign ministry condemned the attack on an Indian-flagged ship off Oman as “unacceptable” on Thursday, with maritime security monitors reporting the cargo vessel had sunk.

Maritime security firm Vanguard named the cargo vessel with 14 crew as the MSV Haji Ali, and said it had reports that it had sunk off the coast of Limah, Oman — just south of the Strait of Hormuz — after an explosion. “All Indian crew on board are safe, and we thank the Omani authorities for rescuing them,” India’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The UAE also condemned the incident in the strongest terms, calling it a “terrorist attack”, according to a statement from the foreign ministry.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2026