Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed on Friday that its naval forces hit and stopped two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, while four others turned back after receiving Iranian warnings, in the latest confrontation over the vital oil waterway.
In a statement, the IRGC said the incident occurred early Friday when two tankers transited what it described as an “undeclared route” under US air escort and ignored Iranian warnings. The two tankers were “hit and stopped,” while four others “quickly changed course and returned to their location,” it said.
“Last night, in response to CENTCOM’s false statement, we informed all owners of shipping and insurance companies not to pay attention to CENTCOM statements,” the IRGC said.
Earlier Thursday, US Central Command said US forces had redirected 24 commercial vessels and disabled and boarded four others “to ensure full compliance.” CENTCOM also rejected IRGC claims that navigation through the Strait of Hormuz is unsafe, saying the primary threat to civilian crews remains the IRGC’s actions.
The reports pushed oil prices higher on Friday morning, with Brent crude futures for September delivery up 0.6 percent at $89.53 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate up 0.5 percent at $84.04, according to CNBC, which said it could not independently verify the Iranian reports. Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz daily.
The incident is the latest in a series of tanker confrontations since the US-Iran war began in late February. The IRGC has repeatedly stopped and boarded vessels it accuses of violating Iranian rules, while US forces have escorted commercial shipping through the strait. Tensions have escalated in recent weeks, with the US carrying out strikes on Iran and Tehran responding by targeting what it says are US military facilities and equipment across the region.
“The expanding geographical range of drone and missile attacks on shipping this year, which encompass the Caspian Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, amount to a new era of maritime risk,” Hamish Kinnear, Middle East and North Africa analyst at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft, said in a research note quoted by CNBC, warning that targeting strategies pioneered in the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are extending maritime risk well beyond established conflict hotspots.
The standoffs have repeatedly moved oil prices as traders weigh the risk of a full closure of the waterway, and the fresh Iranian claims came a day after the United States completed a new “heavy wave” of strikes on IRGC targets across Iran, deepening a conflict that has already spread to Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Kuwait and Bahrain.
Sources: Anadolu, Kurdistan24, CNBC
Author: Middle East Desk
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