Iran struck another tanker in the Strait of Hormuz early on Tuesday, and its crew had to abandon the vessel. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed the attack. It also claimed responsibility for two strikes on ships the day before.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations body, known as UKMTO, said the tanker was hit off the coast of Oman. That detail matters to shipping companies. The US military had earlier pointed vessels toward that route as a safer option than the main strait.
Traffic has largely stopped. In normal times, about a fifth of the world’s traded crude oil and natural gas moves through the waterway.
Ten nights of US strikes
US Central Command says American aircraft have now hit Iran on ten nights in a row. The latest round went after military command centres, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air-defence systems. Iran says the strikes killed at least 50 people and wounded 517.
Washington still has not broken Tehran’s hold on the strait.
The fighting has also reached well beyond Iranian waters. Kuwait said its air defences fired at an incoming barrage. Jordan reported shooting down three Iranian missiles, with no damage or casualties. Bahrain said Iranian drones had gone after its air-traffic systems and warned that civilian flights were at risk.
The toll on American families
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said nearly 100 US service members have been injured since July 7. Of those, 96% have gone back to duty.
Others did not come home. Two US soldiers were killed in Jordan and a third is missing. On Saturday another service member died in Iraq during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone. Since the wider war began on February 28, 17 American troops have died.
President Donald Trump warned that Iran would pay “many times over” for every American soldier it kills. He was expected at Dover Air Force Base for the return of a service member’s remains.
A second front at Bab el-Mandeb
On Monday, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement announced an immediate maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia. Military spokesman Yahya Saree called it an “eye for an eye” response to Saudi Arabia’s decade-long blockade of Yemen and to a recent attack on Sanaa International Airport, which the Houthis blame on Riyadh. Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the group’s media office, said the Bab el-Mandeb Strait would now be closed to Saudi vessels. Neither man explained how the group would enforce that.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen threatened to answer with force and said it had begun putting safety measures in place for Saudi ships. Saree warned that any “foolish act” by Riyadh would bring escalation.
Bab el-Mandeb is only about 32 kilometres wide at its narrowest. It still handles around 12% of global trade and a quarter of the world’s container shipping to and from the Suez Canal. The Houthis have shut this route down before: during the Gaza war they attacked more than 100 vessels there.
The timing hurts Riyadh. With Hormuz stalled, Saudi Arabia has leaned harder on its East-West Pipeline to carry oil overland to the Red Sea. Rystad Energy estimates about 2.5 million barrels a day could be at risk if the Houthis disrupt that route too.
Talks on a narrow track
An interim agreement reached last month has collapsed. Pakistan has pushed to revive it, and Iran’s interior minister, Eskandar Momeni, arrived in Islamabad this week to meet Pakistani officials. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington remains open to negotiations, with progress depending on which officials in Tehran end up controlling any talks.
