Shipping attacks reported near Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea as Iran war tensions rise
Separate U.S. and Houthi attacks on shipping were reported as Iran said the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed without U.S. concessions.
Sana’a, Yemen. The United States and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis reported separate attacks on shipping near key oil supply routes as prospects for ending the Iran war appeared to dim.
Sana’a, Yemen. Iran said the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed unless Washington accepted its conditions, while oil prices rose and global shares retreated amid renewed concern over the conflict.
Red Sea fatalities
Four crew members were killed in a suspected Houthi attack on the Egyptian-owned small cargo vessel Tihamah in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, Yemen’s Transport Ministry said.
Yemen’s Coast Guard said two Yemeni rescuers from an anti-Houthi military group were also killed.
If confirmed, the deaths aboard the Tihamah would be the first shipping fatalities attributed to Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis since the Iran war began.
The Houthi-run Saba news agency said the group attacked a Saudi ship carrying military equipment in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The agency did not identify the vessel, and there was no immediate response from Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis said last month that they would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea.
U.S. action in Gulf of Oman
The U.S. military said a U.S. Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles to disable the steering gear of a Panama-flagged cargo ship.
U.S. Central Command said the ship had ignored repeated warnings to stop violating a naval blockade on Iranian ports. Maritime sources told Reuters that the vessel was hit off Pakistan while sailing into the Gulf of Oman.
The Gulf of Oman, which leads to the Strait of Hormuz, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the entrance to the Red Sea are vital chokepoints for global oil supplies.
Iran’s conditions
Iran and the United States have stepped up rhetoric over the past two days.
Iran’s top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, said on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed unless the United States accepted Iran’s conditions for ending the war: the release of Iran’s frozen assets and an end to conflicts across the region, including in Lebanon and Gaza.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that a deal was imminent, but the conflict has shown no signs of ending.
Brent crude futures rose 1.4% to settle at $88.91 per barrel, while U.S. crude gained 1.3% to $83.20.
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