Iran and the United States have carried out their largest declared wave of attacks against shipping since the six-month conflict began, renewing concerns over vessel safety and oil supplies around the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran said on Wednesday that it had targeted two US ships and eight tankers after US forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers overnight. The US military said its action followed two attempted ballistic missile attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps against a US Navy warship during the previous two days. Washington reported no American casualties.
Context: Strait of Hormuz Intelligence File · Strait of Hormuz shipping guide · Strait of Hormuz
The United States has adopted a policy of striking Iranian tankers in response to attacks that threaten its naval vessels. It says 10 tankers have been hit over the past week. The Revolutionary Guards warned that any further attacks would prompt a substantially larger response and said Iran would publish maps of an expanded maritime exclusion zone extending towards Chabahar, near the Pakistani border.
Related context: Hormuz vessel traffic falls as tanker attacks heighten security concerns · Hormuz vessel transits fall as tanker attacks heighten security concerns · Commodity Vessel Transits Through Strait of Hormuz Fall to Three-Month Low
Operational context
The latest incidents included a fatal attack on the oil products tanker Hercules Star while the vessel was anchored off Dubai. Charterer Peninsula said one seafarer was killed and another was missing. Maritime security sources indicated that the ship may have been struck by a drone.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency separately reported a vessel listing and possibly taking on water after being hit by a projectile, although it was not immediately established whether this was the Hercules Star. UKMTO also received reports of several merchant vessels struck by disabling fire in the northern Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
In Iraqi waters, the New Andros, carrying 2 million barrels of fuel oil, caught fire after an apparent drone strike, according to two Iraqi port officials. No casualties were reported among its 22 crew members. A maritime security source also reported damage to a liquefied natural gas tanker at Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates.
Iran threatened tankers in ports in Kuwait and Bahrain, according to state media. Separately, the Revolutionary Guards said they launched ballistic missiles at a base used by US forces in eastern Jordan. Jordan said its air defences intercepted 18 of 20 missiles, while the remaining two landed in unpopulated areas.
The escalation reversed a partial recovery in traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Rystad Energy chief economist Claudio Galimberti said oil flows through the waterway had fallen to as little as 2 million barrels per day, compared with 8 million to 9 million barrels per day in the week before fighting resumed on August 30. Before the war, the strait handled about one-fifth of global oil supplies.
Benchmark Brent crude futures moved above $100 per barrel for the first time since July. US diesel prices also reached a record average above $5.94 per gallon.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for maximum restraint. Risks to regional energy shipments have been compounded by renewed fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi movement, which has threatened Saudi shipping in the Red Sea.