Two oil tankers were hit by unknown munitions in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday night.
A UK maritime shipping agency reported that a Saudi and a South Korean oil tanker were struck by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz. Both vessels were hit while attempting to use the US-backed shipping lane in the waterway. No casualties were reported on the tankers.
Following the attack on the tankers, the US launched a new round of strikes on Iran. “The United States is, as we speak, striking Iranian Targets near the Strait of Hormuz. The strikes are large and powerful,” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He continued, “If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!”
Last month, Axios reported speaking with a US official who said the military has helped 15 to 20 vessels per day enter or exit the Persian Gulf by transiting the Strait of Hormuz near the Omani coast. One official claimed that the covert operations have increased the flow of oil out of the Gulf to half of the pre-war level, about ten million barrels per day.
The US strategy has tankers move in bulk with US fighter jets escorting the vessels and shooting down Iranian missiles and drones. The official said the operations were made possible by the US taking out Iranian radars.
The attack on the tankers followed the first exchange of strikes between the US and Iran in weeks. On Sunday, the US bombed Iran’s Larak Island. Tehran responded with strikes on an American military base in Jordan.
Iran has said that the US-backed shipping lane through the Strait is illegitimate and is demanding that Washington return to compliance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed in June. Under the MOU, Iran was given control over shipping through the waterway.
Washington is attempting to win the war by collapsing the Iranian economy without causing a global energy crisis. The exchange over the weekend and the attack on the tankers led to an increase in the price of oil.
