Iran said it attacked more than a dozen vessels near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, while expanding a newly declared no-go zone beyond the strategic waterway, in a further escalation of its confrontation with the United States.
The developments sent oil prices back above $100 a barrel as Tehran tightened its grip over the key global energy route and Washington maintained counter-blockade of Iranian ports. Brent oil closed at $101.21.
Iran Expands Maritime Warning
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked two US vessels, eight oil tankers and 10 “non-compliant vessels” attempting to pass through the region, according to Iranian state media.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) separately said several vessels in the Gulf and Gulf of Oman had been
“subject to disabling fire as part of ongoing military activity in the region”.
For the first time, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also extended a “prohibited zone” into parts of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebi warned that vessels entering the area without coordination would face sanctions.
“If a vessel enters that area without coordination, it will be subject to our sanctions,” Mohebi said on Iranian state television.
US-Iran Confrontation Intensifies
Iran also said its forces struck a US military base in Jordan in response to American attacks that destroyed five Iranian oil tankers a day earlier. Jordan’s army said it intercepted 18 missiles fired towards the kingdom.
Iran’s foreign ministry called the tanker strikes “an overt threat to regional and international peace and security”, while describing attacks on US military facilities as an act of “self-defence”.
The US military said it had acted after an Iranian attack targeting an American warship, marking the second such incident in less than a week.
The latest escalation follows weeks of disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has demanded that vessels seek permission and pay transit fees to cross.
Iran War To End After US Midterms: Trump
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned that American forces would continue targeting Iranian tankers if Tehran attacks US naval vessels.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has said the war could end “immediately” after the US midterm elections in November, claiming Iran “can’t hold out any longer”.
“I think the war will end immediately after the election” because Iran “can’t hold out any longer,” Trump told journalists, accusing Tehran of being “desperate to try and affect” the vote.
But US officials cited by The Wall Street Journal have privately warned that the conflict could drag on through the remaining two years of Trump’s term.
Iran’s Guards have said the war could end if Washington meets a series of demands, including ending the blockade of Yemen, withdrawing Israeli forces from Lebanon and releasing billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets.
(With inputs from AFP)
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