By Open Chronicle with agencies
Iran said Wednesday that it had attacked 10 vessels near the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the destruction of five Iranian oil tankers by the United States, marking the largest publicly declared exchange of attacks on commercial and military shipping since the war began six months ago.
The renewed confrontation has pushed the Gulf back into the centre of the conflict and sent shockwaves through global energy markets. Brent crude futures climbed above $100 a barrel for the first time since July as traders assessed the possibility of prolonged disruption to one of the world’s most important energy corridors.
At least one seafarer was reported killed and another missing following attacks on shipping in the region.
Iran declares major retaliation at sea
Iran said its forces targeted two American vessels and eight tankers following US attacks on Iranian shipping.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that its response would escalate sharply if further attacks were carried out against Iranian assets. According to the Guards, an enemy attack against two or three targets could provoke Iranian strikes against as many as 20 targets.
Tehran also said it would publish maps establishing a larger maritime exclusion zone extending along the Iranian coastline as far as Chabahar, near the Pakistani border.
Such a move could significantly expand the geographical area affected by the maritime confrontation, potentially increasing risks for commercial vessels travelling through the Gulf of Oman and nearby waters.
US says five Iranian tankers destroyed
US Central Command said American forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers overnight and released footage showing vessels burning before sinking.
Washington described the operation as retaliation for what it said were two attempts by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to strike a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles during the previous two days.
The United States said none of its personnel were harmed.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington had adopted a policy of targeting Iranian tankers when Iran attempted to attack American naval forces.
“Iran continues to try to hit U.S. naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia.
According to Washington, American forces have struck 10 Iranian tankers over the past week.
Iran, however, has presented its attacks as retaliation for US actions and has warned that further strikes will produce a substantially larger response.
Seafarer killed as merchant shipping comes under fire
The escalation is increasingly affecting civilian maritime traffic.
One crew member aboard the oil products tanker Hercules Star was killed while the vessel was anchored off Dubai, according to its charterer, Peninsula. Another crew member was reported missing.
Maritime security sources said the tanker may have been struck by a drone.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency separately reported a vessel in the area listing and possibly taking on water after being struck by a projectile. It was not immediately clear whether the report referred to the Hercules Star.
Elsewhere, Iraqi officials said the tanker New Andros, carrying around two million barrels of fuel oil, caught fire after being struck by a drone in Iraqi waters.
All 22 crew members were reported safe. The Iraqi government confirmed the incident and said the tanker had been used for storage.
UKMTO also received reports of several merchant vessels being hit by disabling fire across the northern Gulf and Gulf of Oman.
Iranian state media carried threats against tankers operating from Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports, while a maritime security source reported that a liquefied natural gas tanker had been damaged at Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates.
Iran fires ballistic missiles toward US base in Jordan
The confrontation was not limited to the sea.
The IRGC said it launched ballistic missiles against a base used by American forces near Al Azraq in eastern Jordan.
Jordan said its air defences intercepted 18 of the 20 incoming Iranian missiles. The remaining two reportedly landed in unpopulated areas without causing casualties.
A US official said the attack had been ineffective and that all American personnel were accounted for.
The strike illustrates the growing geographical reach of the conflict, with US military facilities and regional partners increasingly exposed to Iranian missiles and drones.
Hormuz traffic falls again
The renewed fighting threatens efforts to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Before the war, roughly one fifth of global oil supplies passed through the narrow waterway separating Iran from the Arabian Peninsula.
Washington had recently reported increasing success in helping commercial tankers navigate the strait. Those gains now appear to have been reversed.
Claudio Galimberti, chief economist at Rystad Energy, estimated that oil flows through Hormuz had fallen to as little as two million barrels per day. Traffic had recovered to between eight million and nine million barrels per day in the week before fighting resumed on August 30.
The decline illustrates the enormous economic significance of even partial disruption to the waterway.
Brent crude climbs above $100
Energy markets reacted quickly.
Benchmark Brent crude futures moved above $100 a barrel for the first time since July as concerns intensified about the security of Gulf oil exports.
The impact is also spreading to refined fuels.
Average US diesel prices reportedly climbed above $5.94 per gallon on Wednesday, reaching a new record. Gasoline prices are also unusually high for this time of year.
Continued disruption around Hormuz could place additional pressure on fuel prices, transportation costs and inflation far beyond the Middle East.
Yemen opens another front of energy insecurity
The maritime confrontation is unfolding alongside a separate escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Iran aligned Houthi movement in Yemen.
The Houthis launched attacks against four Saudi cities on Tuesday, with strikes causing major fires at oil installations. Saudi authorities said 73 people were wounded.
Saudi Arabia subsequently issued alerts in two of the affected cities on Wednesday before announcing that the immediate threat had passed.
Meanwhile, forces aligned with Yemen’s Saudi backed government have launched a multipronged offensive against territory controlled by the Houthis.
The Houthis, who control most of Yemen’s heavily populated areas, have threatened Saudi shipping in the Red Sea.
The simultaneous deterioration of security around both the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea raises the prospect of disruption affecting two of the most strategically important maritime routes connecting Middle Eastern energy producers with global markets.
Risk of a wider maritime war grows
The latest attacks represent a dangerous new stage in the conflict.
What began as exchanges against military targets has increasingly expanded toward oil infrastructure, tankers, commercial shipping and energy supply routes. That creates additional risks for crews who have no direct role in the conflict and for countries dependent on uninterrupted maritime trade.
The United States has made clear that attacks against its warships will trigger strikes against Iranian shipping. Iran has responded by threatening an increasingly disproportionate number of targets for every additional attack against its assets.
With commercial vessels already being hit and traffic through Hormuz falling sharply, the possibility of miscalculation is growing.
The immediate question is no longer simply whether the United States and Iran will continue exchanging strikes. It is whether the escalating maritime confrontation can be contained before the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters become effectively inaccessible to large parts of international commercial shipping.