Tankers struck again near Strait of Hormuz as Iran restates conditions for reopening
In short
At least two vessels were struck over the weekend in waters near Oman and Iran, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre, which reported a crude oil tanker hit by an unknown projectile on Saturday and a second tanker struck in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday with damage to its engine room. Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Sunday that the strait will not reopen until Iran's seven conditions based on the Islamabad Memorandum are met. The attacks have been recurring for weeks and have made transits through the strait riskier, while the New York Times said the burst of strikes raised fears over a fragile energy trade.
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At least two vessels were struck over the weekend in waters near Oman and Iran, the UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre, a British maritime security alert service, reported. UKMTO said it received a report on Saturday of a crude oil tanker being hit by an unknown projectile four nautical miles east of Oman. Another tanker was reported struck in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, causing damage to its engine room. [ 1 ]
In Tehran, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Sunday that “the Strait of Hormuz will not open until Iran's seven conditions based on the Islamabad Memorandum are met, and Iran will not regulate its national security with tweets from American officials,” according to the Iranian state media agency Nour News, as quoted by CNBC. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed an interim deal in June, known as the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, that resulted in a brief hiatus in fighting. Tehran's conditions for allowing ships to proceed freely through the strait include a halt to U.S. “acts of aggression,” an end to the U.S. naval blockade of its ports and economic warfare, and the release of Iranian assets. A key demand of the U.S. has been that Iran dismantle its nuclear weapons program. [ 1 ]
About a fifth of the world's oil supplies moved through the strait before the start of the U.S. and Israel-led war on Feb. 28, and attacks on shipping there have been happening on a regular basis for weeks, according to CNBC. The Wall Street Journal reported that oil had been pouring through the Strait of Hormuz again before attacks on shipping resurged, and that Iran's targeting of ships has improved according to a U.S. official, making transits through the strait riskier. [ 1 , 2 ]
The New York Times reported that the burst of attacks in the Gulf heightened fears over a fragile energy trade. It said strikes on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and on oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia came as the region's exporters were getting more oil to the world market, and that more tankers had moved through the strait in recent weeks. [ 3 ]
Why it matters
About a fifth of the world's oil supplies moved through the Strait of Hormuz before the U.S. and Israel-led war began on Feb. 28, so renewed strikes on tankers and the dispute over reopening the waterway bear directly on global oil flows and shipping risk. The three outlets covering the event are business and financial news organisations, which frame it as a threat to energy trade rather than as a purely military story, and the New York Times links the strikes to oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia at a moment when regional exporters were moving more oil to the world market.
Key facts
- At least two vessels were struck over the weekend in waters near Oman and Iran, the UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported. [ 1 ]
- A crude oil tanker was hit by an unknown projectile four nautical miles east of Oman on Saturday, according to UKMTO. [ 1 ]
- A second tanker was reported struck on Sunday in the Strait of Hormuz, causing damage to its engine room. [ 1 ]
- Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Sunday the Strait of Hormuz will not open until Iran's seven conditions based on the Islamabad Memorandum are met. [ 1 ]
- Tehran's conditions include a halt to U.S. “acts of aggression,” an end to the U.S. naval blockade and economic warfare, and the release of Iranian assets. [ 1 ]
- A key U.S. demand has been that Iran dismantle its nuclear weapons program. [ 1 ]
- A U.S. official said Iran's targeting of ships has improved, making transits through the Strait of Hormuz riskier, according to the Wall Street Journal. [ 2 ]
- Strikes on tankers in the strait and on oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia came as the region's exporters were getting more oil to the world market, the New York Times said. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Which party carried out the attacks. No document attributes responsibility; CNBC says the Saturday tanker was hit by an unknown projectile, and the Wall Street Journal refers to Iran's targeting of ships only through an unnamed U.S. official.
- Whether the Strait of Hormuz is currently open to shipping. CNBC reports Iran saying the strait will not reopen until its conditions are met, while the Wall Street Journal headline says oil was pouring through again before attacks resumed; the documents do not reconcile the two.
- The full list of Iran's seven conditions. CNBC names only three elements — a halt to U.S. acts of aggression, an end to the naval blockade and economic warfare, and the release of Iranian assets.
- The number of vessels struck in total and whether there were casualties. CNBC reports at least two vessels struck; no document gives a total count or reports casualties.
- The UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre, described by CNBC as a British maritime security alert service, reported the tanker strikes. Reported by a single source so far
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- CNBC reports that at least two vessels were struck over the weekend in waters near Oman and Iran, and that Iran reiterated on Sunday the strait would not reopen unless its conditions are met. [ 1 ]
- The Wall Street Journal reports that oil had been flowing through the Strait of Hormuz again before attacks on shipping resumed, and that a U.S. official said Iran's targeting of ships has improved, making transits riskier. [ 2 ]
- The New York Times reports that a burst of attacks in the Gulf, including strikes on tankers in the strait and on oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, heightened fears over a fragile energy trade. [ 3 ]