TEHRAN: Iran said it attacked more than a dozen vessels trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, while expanding a no-go zone around the strategic waterway it has blockaded for months.
The latest attacks and fighting with the United States pushed oil prices above US$100 a barrel again as Tehran tightened its control of the strait and Washington maintained a counter-blockade of Iranian ports. Brent crude closed at US$101.21 a barrel.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked two US vessels, eight oil tankers and 10 “non-compliant vessels” attempting to pass through the waterway, Iranian state media reported.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said several vessels in the Gulf of Oman and the Gulf had been subjected to “disabling fire” during ongoing military activity.
The Strait of Hormuz is a key energy route that normally carries about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.
The Guards also added parts of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea to a new “prohibited zone”, saying exact coordinates would be announced later.
Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebi said vessels entering the area without coordination would face sanctions.
The Guards also said they attacked a US military base in Jordan after US forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers a day earlier. Jordan’s army said it shot down 18 missiles fired at the kingdom.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the tanker strikes an “overt threat” to regional and international security, while saying attacks on US military facilities were an act of self-defence.
Long war?
Iran’s Guards said the war could end if Washington met several conditions, including ending the blockade of Yemen, withdrawing Israeli forces from Lebanon, releasing US$24 billion in frozen Iranian assets and avoiding interference in Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes.
US President Donald Trump said the conflict would end immediately after the November midterm elections, claiming Iran could no longer continue fighting.
However, The Wall Street Journal reported that senior US advisers were privately warning that the war could continue for the remaining two years of Trump’s term.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors voted 23-3 to refer Iran to the UN Security Council over its nuclear “non-compliance”, with eight countries abstaining. Russia, China and Niger opposed the resolution.
Iran rejected the move as being made under US pressure, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his claim that Iran was close to collapse.
The latest escalation followed US forces destroying five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday after ordering their crews to abandon ship.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran would continue losing tankers if it attempted to attack US naval vessels.
Iran has controlled traffic through the Strait of Hormuz since US-Israeli strikes began the war in February, with shipping through the waterway now largely paralysed. Tehran requires vessels to obtain permission and pay transit fees before passing through the strait. – AFP
