Strait of Hormuz Shipping Crisis Escalates as US and Iran Target Oil Tankers
The Strait of Hormuz shipping crisis intensified on Wednesday after Iran said it attacked more than a dozen vessels attempting to pass through the strategic waterway, following the United States’ sinking of five Iranian oil tankers. The confrontation represents the biggest declared wave of tit-for-tat attacks on commercial shipping, oil tankers and maritime trade by the two sides since the six-month-old war began.
Iran also said it fired ballistic missiles at a base used by US forces in Jordan and expanded a prohibited maritime zone beyond the Strait of Hormuz. The escalation sent oil prices sharply higher, with benchmark Brent crude futures rising above $100 a barrel for the first time since July. At least one seafarer was reported killed and another was listed as missing.
Attacks by the two sides since the end of August have ended a month of relative calm, with US and Iranian forces targeting military, shipping and energy assets.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had attacked two US vessels, eight oil tankers and 10 “non-compliant vessels” attempting to pass through the route, according to Iranian state media.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said “several” vessels in the Gulf of Oman and the Gulf had been “subject to disabling fire as part of ongoing military activity in the region”.
Iran Expands Prohibited Maritime Zone
The IRGC said the new “prohibited zone” would cover waters many miles beyond the Strait of Hormuz and extend as far as the Arabian Sea.
Iran first announced the prohibited zone earlier this week while continuing talks with Oman over a temporary shipping route through the strait.
The Guards said maps of the enlarged off-limits maritime area would soon be released. The zone would extend as far as Chabahar on the far reaches of Iran’s coast near Pakistan.
“If a vessel enters that area without coordination, it will be subject to our sanctions,” Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebi told state television.
Mohebi said this could mean that a vessel entering the zone without coordination would later be denied services if it sought to use the Strait of Hormuz or obtain services such as insurance and other related maritime services.
Tehran has demanded that vessels seek permission to transit the strait, insisting there will be no return to the pre-war system of unrestricted navigation.
US Sinks Five Iranian Oil Tankers
The United States said it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers overnight and released video showing the vessels ablaze before they sank.
The US military’s Central Command said the attacks were a response to the IRGC targeting a US Navy warship twice with ballistic missiles over the previous two days. Washington said no Americans were harmed.
The United States has announced a new policy of attacking Iranian tankers in retaliation for fire that threatens its warships and said it had hit 10 tankers over the past week.
“Iran continues to try to hit US naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia.
US President Donald Trump meanwhile predicted that the war would end “immediately” after the US midterm elections in November, saying Iran could no longer sustain the conflict.
“I think the war will end immediately after the election” because Iran “can’t hold out any longer,” Trump told reporters. He also accused Tehran of being “desperate to try and affect” the vote.
Iran said it fired on two US ships and eight tankers in response.
Tanker Attacks Leave Seafarer Dead and Another Missing
The attacks have also affected commercial vessel crews.
One seafarer was killed aboard the oil products tanker Hercules Star while it was at anchorage off Dubai, while another crew member was reported missing, the vessel’s charterer, Peninsula, said. Maritime security sources said the tanker may have been hit by a drone.
Two Iraqi port officials said the New Andros, a tanker carrying two million barrels of fuel oil, caught fire after being struck by a drone in Iraqi waters.
There were no reports of casualties among its 22 crew members. The Iraqi government confirmed the incident and said the tanker had been used for storage.
Iran also threatened oil tankers in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports, according to a statement carried by state media. Separately, a maritime security source reported that a liquefied natural gas tanker was damaged at the Emirati port of Khor Fakkan.
Iranian Missiles Target Base in Jordan
The IRGC said on Wednesday that it had fired ballistic missiles at a base used by US forces near Al Azraq in eastern Jordan.
Jordan said its air defences intercepted 18 of the 20 Iranian missiles, while two fell harmlessly in unpopulated areas.
Iran Sets Conditions for Ending War
The IRGC said the war could be brought to an end if Washington met its conditions, which included demands related to the conflicts in Lebanon and Yemen.
Mohebi said Washington must refrain from renewed threats, withdraw the Israeli regime’s army from Lebanon, end the blockade of Yemen, release $24 billion in Iran’s frozen assets and refrain from interfering in Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities, according to Fars news agency.
IAEA Refers Iran to UN Security Council
The military escalation came as international pressure on Iran also increased.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors on Wednesday voted to refer Iran to the UN Security Council over its nuclear “non-compliance”. The diplomatic move adds further pressure on the Islamic republic as Washington seeks to choke off Iran economically.
The resolution was adopted by 23 votes in favour, three against and eight abstentions. Russia, China and Niger voted against it.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi criticised the resolution.
In a post on X, he condemned attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities under safeguards, the disruption of the verification process and the use of “that very disruption as a pretext to issue a resolution in the Board of Governors”.
“With these fabrications, you can neither compensate for the failure of your policies and actions nor achieve anything in the Security Council,” Gharibabadi added.
The latest developments have placed the Strait of Hormuz, oil tankers, commercial shipping, maritime security and global energy trade at the centre of the escalating conflict, with attacks now affecting vessels and maritime activity across the Gulf, Gulf of Oman and waters extending toward the Arabian Sea.
