Listen to this article
Estimated 5 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Seven oil tankers caught fire or were damaged in the Strait of Hormuz overnight after being hit by Iran or striking naval mines, Tehran said on Thursday, a markedly high number as tensions rise over concerns about a return to all-out war.
Iranian state television reported the claims about the latest attacks on ships, which The Associated Press couldn’t independently confirm. The report cited the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy, which again threatened to strike U.S. military bases in the region if the U.S. keeps helping to guide commercial ships through the strait.
The report didn’t mention casualties. Iran asserted control over the waterway not long after the U.S. and Israel began widespread attacks in Iran on Feb. 28.
October has had the most reported attacks on commercial shipping since March in the war’s opening weeks, according to a British military monitor, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. UKMTO didn’t report the latest attacks, but it has noted new reluctance by some shippers to report incidents.
Oil producers have found ways to keep crude flowing, experts say, but at a mounting cost.
As well, with days before a close election in Israel in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could lose power, and before next month’s U.S. midterm elections in which war-linked high fuel prices have sparked voter anger, there are concerns that U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran could resume.
“Netanyahu wants to attack Iran, that’s not even a question,” Danny Citrinowicz, a researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies and a former Iran specialist in Israel’s military and intelligence services, told the AP. A clear Netanyahu victory in the Oct. 27 election means an attack is almost guaranteed, he predicted.
WATCH | What’s to blame for high diesel prices:
Crude oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz are slowly recovering, so why is the price of diesel skyrocketing? The National’s Eli Glasner breaks down what’s causing the increase, and why diesel prices likely won’t drop anytime soon.
A return to full fighting would again endanger civilians throughout the region and complicate global deliveries of oil, natural gas and related products like fertilizer from the region and likely bring another spike in prices.
An American maritime blockade since April, along with trade sanctions, have cut off Iran’s oil export revenues and exacerbated growing domestic economic woes. While Tehran has in recent weeks been concealing cargoes carrying some liquefied petroleum gas and jet fuel off the coast of Oman, according to multiple Reuters sources, it is at a fraction of its previous energy exports.
The United States is also sending more military assets to the region, including a third aircraft carrier and thousands of troops, to join the largest force of American warships and aircraft in the Middle East in decades.
Houthi threat emerges since previous talks
The landscape of the conflict has widened with the recent surge in fighting between Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. The Saudi kingdom backs a coalition of forces with Yemen’s internationally recognized government that is fighting the rebels.
The Saudi-led coalition said on Thursday it had intercepted drones over Riyadh and Islam’s holy city of Medina.
WATCH | How Saudi defences were unable to stop Houthi rebels:
Get the latest on CBCNews.ca, the CBC News App, and CBC News Network for breaking news and analysis.
The Houthis said on Thursday that they had launched attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry in Riyadh, Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, where Saudi authorities said two people were killed.
There was no immediate Saudi confirmation of attacks in Riyadh and Yanbu.
The Houthis’ repeated deadly attacks on airports and other facilities inside Saudi Arabia have pressured the close U.S. ally, which has sought military aid.
The U.S. State Department has ordered some diplomats and family members to depart from its missions in Saudi Arabia and plans to withdraw family members from a number of other U.S. missions in the region, U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a post on social media platform X that the department ordered the departure of “non-emergency U.S. government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only” in light of Houthi attacks on civilian targets within the country.
WATCH | Trump rejects ceasefire proposal by Iran:
U.S. President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian ceasefire proposal that would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz, but Tehran says Washington hasn’t turned down the offer via official channels and the deal is still on the table.
Saudi state oil company Aramco has ordered the evacuation of its headquarters in Dhahran and for employees to work remotely if possible, six people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday. Aramco did not respond for comment, but its headquarters have been damaged in recent attacks.
Mediators, meanwhile, have been trying to bring Washington and Tehran back to the negotiating table for formal talks.
Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday said that a wary Tehran remains open to diplomacy but is ready to defend itself.
Iran still promotes its latest proposal that would end the war and fully open the strait within a week if the U.S. meets several conditions. Those conditions, which include ending the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, echo ones in the deal that fell apart within days of both sides signing it in June.
Discussion about this post