Five Tankers Now Hit in Hormuz as US Strike Fears Grow

Photo: Getty Images via Al Jazeera

The number of tankers hit in the Strait of Hormuz has risen to five, Iran says, after three more caught fire on Thursday. A separate vessel was struck by projectiles off Qatar, and the United States is reported to be ready to resume major strikes on Iran.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said a large tanker struck a mine late on Wednesday while trying to pass south of the strait, and another supertanker caught fire as it left the eastern end of the waterway. A tugboat that moved in to help also caught fire. On Thursday the Iranian navy said three more tankers had hit mines and caught fire, Al Jazeera reported.

That takes the count to at least five tankers and a tugboat in the past 24 hours, up from the two tankers and a tugboat we reported earlier on Thursday. The figures come from Iran's own forces, and no other side has confirmed them.

Away from the strait, Britain's maritime security agency said a vessel was hit by two unidentified projectiles late on Wednesday off the coast of Qatar, Reuters reported.

The incidents come as the risk of a fresh American attack rises. The New York Times reported that thousands of US air and naval forces are poised to resume major combat operations on President Donald Trump's orders, though Trump has said he had no immediate plans to order strikes. South Korea has already moved navy patrols closer to the strait as shipping grows more dangerous.

Iran's foreign minister has been on the phone to his counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar, while Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said there should not be "even the slightest inclination towards submission" to the US. A senior Revolutionary Guards adviser warned that any country helping an American attack would be a "legitimate target".

The strait normally carries about a fifth of the world's oil, and Tehran has sharply limited traffic through it since the war began in late February. Attacks on tankers are running close to a record pace: at least five vessels have reported incidents since Sunday, and 35 were hit in October, the most in any month of the war.

Oil prices, though, have fallen in recent days as traders bet that Trump, chastened by his party's midterm losses, may be less likely to restart the strikes he launched alongside Israel. Brent crude has fallen below $100 a barrel, and Washington has also been tightening sanctions on firms helping Iran.

Sources

• Al Jazeera: Iran says tankers struck in Hormuz amid fears of new US attack
• Reuters: Tankers hit in Hormuz as Iran keeps up pressure after US vote
• Gulf News: Iran warns against war as Trump signals heavy hit and tankers catch fire near Hormuz

The next move now belongs to Washington, with American forces reported ready and Gulf mediators still trying to find a way out.

#Hormuz #Iran #OilTankers #MiddleEast #WorldNews #BreakingNews