Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Friday it struck two oil tankers attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz under the escort of the US military, a sharp escalation in the confrontation that has nearly closed one of the world’s most vital shipping lanes. The attack came as President Donald Trump gathered his cabinet at Camp David to discuss the stalling war and rising energy prices with US midterm elections looming.
The IRGC said the “non-compliant oil tankers were struck and brought to a halt, while four other oil tankers quickly changed course and returned to their previous positions.” The military body said the ships had tried to pass through the strait via an “undeclared route” and under US aerial escort. Iran and the United States have each declared competing routes through the waterway, with Iran bombing ships that take the southern route near the coast of Oman and the US bombing vessels that violate its blockade of Iranian ships and ports.
The strait has been almost completely closed to traffic for two weeks, sending energy prices soaring. On Thursday, the price of crude oil pushed past $90 a barrel after the US struck Iran in retaliation for its targeting of US bases in Jordan. Energy companies have posted record profits, with ExxonMobil’s profits doubling and Chevron reporting more than five times its profits from the same period last year.
Fighting continued on Friday elsewhere in the region. Kuwait’s defense ministry reported it had shot down Iranian drones targeting “vital and military facilities” without any casualties. In Lebanon, the Israeli military carried out a huge detonation overnight near the ancient Beaufort Castle, saying it was targeting Hezbollah tunnels and infrastructure; Lebanese officials accused Israel of violating the ceasefire.
Trump brought his cabinet together at the Camp David retreat in Maryland on Friday to try to chart a path forward for the war, which he promised would last a few weeks but has now dragged on for five months. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week the gathering would be “a lot of fun and something different for the cabinet to experience together.”
A Reuters-Ipsos poll this week found that one in three Americans support the war, the lowest level of support since the conflict began. Support in Congress is also waning; the Senate narrowly rejected a symbolic war powers resolution asking the president to stop the war, which failed on a 49-50 vote. The price of gas and groceries remains high in the US as a result of the energy disruption, complicating Republican chances at the ballot box in November, and inflation is a boon for Democrats hoping to wrest control of the House.
The tanker strikes signal that Iran intends to keep pressure on the US-led coalition trying to reopen the strait by force, and the standoff is expected to keep global oil markets volatile for months. US officials have said ships should pass through the strait under escort, while Tehran has warned that any vessel using routes it does not recognize is a target.
Sources: The Guardian, The Defense Post
Author: USA Desk
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