US Fires on Tanker Running Iran’s Hormuz Blockade
American forces disabled a tanker in the Gulf after its crew repeatedly tried to breach Iran’s blockade of a port, US Central Command said. “We disabled the tanker after the crew attempted to run the blockade at least four times prior,” said Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, adding that the ship was stopped by firing into its engine room after repeated warnings. The vessel was not named.
The incident underscores how the Strait of Hormuz has become the war’s central battleground, with Iran seeking to impose control over the corridor through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes, and Houthi allies opening a second front against shipping in the Red Sea. The International Energy Agency has warned that renewed exchanges in the Gulf threaten its assumption of a gradual recovery in tanker flows, cautioning that “a lasting peace agreement… is a must for the normalisation in oil markets”. Any strike on Gulf energy infrastructure could send crude sharply higher again. Watch the chokepoints.