Tensions spike in the Strait of Hormuz
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 4 May 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
There's been an escalation of the conflict in the Gulf after the US said it had sailed two destroyers through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said it had fired warning shots at one warship and denied US claims that two US-flagged merchant ships had transited the waterway. Iran has retaliated. The UAE says four cruise missiles were fired towards its territory and a drone hit the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone.
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(Photo: Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran, 4th May, 2026. Credit: Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/WANA via Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:08.9 | Hello and welcome to Newsire live from the BBC World Service in London. |
| 0:13.4 | I'm Rebecca Kesbby. |
| 0:14.9 | And we begin the programme in the Gulf and the ongoing standoff between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz. |
| 0:21.7 | On Sunday, Mr Trump said the US would start to help stranded vessels through the strait. |
| 0:26.8 | He's calling it Project Freedom. |
| 0:28.5 | But we're getting two completely different versions of the story. |
| 0:32.1 | In fact, different versions of multiple stories today. |
| 0:35.6 | Earlier, US Central Command said that two US flag merchant vessels |
| 0:39.5 | had successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz. It also said two US Navy destroyers had |
| 0:45.4 | passed in the other direction and are now operating in the Gulf. Iran says those claims are |
| 0:50.1 | entirely false. Tehran earlier said it had hit a US destroyer, which has been categorically |
| 0:55.7 | denied by the United States. But we are getting reports that other cargo ships have been hit. |
| 1:01.2 | Where does all this, though, leave the 2,000 ships stuck in the Gulf? |
| 1:05.1 | Raman Kapoor is the captain of an oil tanker, which has been trapped since the start of the war, |
| 1:10.0 | and he says it's still too dangerous to move at the moment. |
| 1:13.2 | No, no. |
| 1:14.1 | If you ask me as a captain, I would not take this risk. |
| 1:17.3 | First and foremost, it's my cruise safety first and then my ship's safety. |
| 1:23.6 | So as a captain, I would not take this risk at the moment. |
| 1:26.2 | So no one is giving the 100% assurance that nothing wrong will go. |
| 1:32.5 | Well, let's cross live to Washington, D.C., where we find the BBC's Tom Bateman for the very latest. |
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