From Foreign Policy · Alexandra Sharp · · 3m
Iran Hits 10 Ships and Hormuz Shuts Down Again
Tehran's biggest strike yet on shipping sent Brent crude to $100 and stalled every effort to reopen the strait.
In brief
Tehran's biggest strike yet on shipping sent Brent crude to $100 and stalled every effort to reopen the strait. Both sides claim their attacks are working, but the oil price is the only scoreboard that matters, and it keeps going up. Originally reported by Foreign Policy.
The biggest wave yet
Tehran said Wednesday it carried out its largest known set of attacks on shipping since the Iran war began, aimed at traffic near the Strait of Hormuz.
Reopening is stalled
Efforts to gradually reopen the waterway are at an impasse. Instead of traffic returning, the strait is under more pressure than before.
America struck first
On Tuesday, U.S. Central Command said it destroyed five Iranian oil carriers in the Gulf of Oman and near Kharg Island, home to Iran's main oil export terminal.
Tankers fund the IRGC
Centcom framed the carriers as part of a covert fleet, not civilian cargo, saying the ships bankroll Iran's Revolutionary Guard and its regional proxies.
“Iran has used the tankers as part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies”
Tankers for missiles
Washington called the strikes payback for two failed IRGC ballistic missile attacks on a U.S. Navy warship, and set out an explicit exchange rate.
“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”
Ten ships in reply
Iran said it attacked 10 vessels near the strait, two American and eight oil ships, and fired ballistic missiles at a base used by U.S. forces in Jordan.
One crew member killed
At least one person aboard the Gibraltar-flagged Hercules Star died in the attacks. Several other ships reported fires onboard.
Carriers under missile fire
U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal that since Friday Iran has fired ballistic missiles at Navy destroyers, an aircraft carrier, and at least one Marine ship.
Both sides claim misses
Centcom said every recent Iranian attack failed to hit a U.S. military vessel. Jordan said nearly all the missiles aimed at its base were intercepted.
Brent touches $100
Markets did not buy the reassurance. Brent crude briefly hit $100 a barrel on Wednesday, its first time there since July.
Diesel near $6
West Texas Intermediate is up 41 percent since the war started, and diesel is approaching $6 a gallon, more than 55 percent above prewar levels.
Trump promises cheap gas
The president told Truth Social that winning the war will send prices down, eventually below $2 a gallon. Crude kept setting records anyway.
“Oil prices will drop precipitously, like everything else is dropping (but more!), when we WIN the war with Iran”
The victory claim
The White House maintains Iran's navy and air force are already destroyed and that the U.S. controls the Strait of Hormuz. Ten burning ships say otherwise.
A proxy war widens
Iranian-backed Houthis hit Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones, injuring more than 70, then accused Saudi-backed forces of 54 overnight airstrikes in return.
Yemen's truce may break
The tit-for-tat has revived fears the 2022 truce collapses into open war, pulling another front into a conflict already squeezing the world's oil.
“These airstrikes and the ongoing aggression against our country will not go unanswered or unpunished”
At a glance
Both sides claim their attacks are working, but the oil price is the only scoreboard that matters, and it keeps going up.
