Iran Hits Oil Tanker in Strait of Hormuz as Regional Strikes Spread
Iran Strikes Oil Tanker in Strait of Hormuz
Iran says it has struck an oil tanker trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz. [1] Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy said a Togo-flagged oil tanker caught fire after being hit while attempting what it called an ‘illegal passage’ through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media reported. [4] The tanker came to a halt after the fire, the Guards Navy said. [4] The strike comes amid Iran declaring the strait closed until the US lifts its blockade of Iranian ports, while the US Navy guides ships through the area and imposes the blockade. [4]
Escalating Saudi-Houthi Exchanges
Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis exchanged fresh strikes across their border on Thursday and Yemenis took to boats in the Red Sea to escape fighting. [4] Houthi-controlled television reported Saudi airstrikes in Hajjah province close to the Saudi border near the Red Sea coast, and the vicinity of Taiz further inland to the south. [4] Saudi Arabia’s civil defence said a Yemeni living in Saudi Arabia had been killed by debris from a drone intercepted over the western city of Taif, the first death Riyadh has announced in repeated Houthi attacks since fighting escalated last week. [4] It has previously said more than 80 people were wounded. [4] On Wednesday, the Houthis said they had shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet. [4] The Houthis, who have seized Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast since last week in a lightning advance, say the Saudi Air Force has conducted hundreds of airstrikes in recent days. [4] Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech: “We want the Saudis to cease their blockade and occupation of our country, and to stop their aggression against us. This is our demand!” [4]
Threats to Global Oil Supplies
The spread of the war to Yemen and Saudi Arabia has raised new concerns about oil supplies by jeopardising the main alternative Red Sea route for Gulf exports while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains constrained. [4] Global crude prices eased slightly on Thursday but remain well above $100 a barrel after reaching their highest levels since May. [4] The average US retail diesel price hit a record high on Thursday, just shy of $6.40 a gallon. [4] The US Navy is trying to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the outlet to the Gulf along Iran’s coast, where a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas passed before the war, and is also imposing a blockade of Iranian ports. [4] Iran says the strait is closed and will remain shut until Washington lifts the blockade. [4] The fighting has driven Yemeni civilians to flee across the Bab el-Mandeb — Arabic for “Gate of Tears” — the narrow strait at the mouth of the Red Sea. [4] In Djibouti on the African shore of the Red Sea, Wahida Omer, 50, reached land after crossing on a small boat from Yemen when her village of Dhubab came under attack as the Houthis swept into the area. [4] The IOM says more than 100,000 Yemenis have been displaced by the latest fighting, mostly within Yemen. [4]
Trump Considers Renewed Attacks on Iran
US President Donald Trump has rebuffed pleas from the Saudis for military support to fight the Houthis, who agreed a ceasefire with the United States last year after Washington bombed the group for two months. [4] Trump said on Thursday he is approaching a critical juncture over whether to restart massive attacks on Iran. [4] “I have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them or do I not? It’s a big decision. Anything could happen with me,” Trump said in an interview with Axios. [4] The United States and Iran have held no negotiations to end the war since an interim agreement reached in June collapsed within weeks. [4] But the war will come up for discussion at the United Nations General Assembly next week, and an Iranian delegation will be able to attend, according to the US State Department. [4]
UN Reports on Prior US Strikes and Iranian Abuses
The UN experts said they found reasonable grounds to believe U.S. forces were responsible for an attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in the city of Minab, where more than 150 people were killed, including around 120 schoolchildren, according to Iranian officials. [5] The attack constituted an indiscriminate attack causing civilian deaths and damage to civilian infrastructure, amounting to a war crime under international law, the mission concluded. [5] The UN mission probe found that the Iranian authorities carried out a widespread and systematic attack against civilians during protests that erupted in late December last year, involving unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and severe restrictions on freedom of expression. [5] The probe said it could not independently verify the death toll, but that it believed the number of dead and injured was likely far higher than official figures which say 3,038 people were killed, and 25,000 people injured. [5] Deadly US strike on Iran school may have been a war crime, UN report finds. [2]
What to watch next: The war will come up for discussion at the United Nations General Assembly next week, and an Iranian delegation will be able to attend, according to the US State Department. [4]
