Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Two oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to China and India reversed course in the Red Sea on Tuesday after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis threatened shipping, widening disruption across key Middle East energy routes.
The diversions followed overnight U.S. strikes in Iran, Iranian attacks on U.S. sites across the Gulf and a reported tanker strike in the Strait of Hormuz.
Tankers change course
The two tankers had loaded Saudi crude this week and turned back toward the Suez, according to LSEG shipping data. Sources said Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu was operating normally.
The Houthis announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia on Monday, opening a potential new front in the conflict and increasing risks to global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf.
Regional escalation
U.S. forces struck targets in southern and western Iran overnight, while Tehran targeted U.S. sites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. At least one tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the report.
The latest violence has largely undermined an interim peace deal signed last month.
U.S. Central Command said it struck Iranian military command centres, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defence systems.
Strikes reported in Iran
Iranian state media reported explosions around Shiraz in southern Iran. Media reports said Konarak and Chabahar on the southern coast, Khorramabad and a civilian site outside Abdanan in western Iran also came under attack.
Later, IRNA quoted an official in Khorramabad as saying no enemy attack had taken place there.
A health ministry official said 50 civilians had been killed and 500 wounded in recent U.S. strikes on Iran.
Gulf response and oil prices
Iran launched renewed attacks across the Gulf, where recent strikes on desalination facilities have raised concerns about water shortages.
Kuwait said it was responding to a drone and missile attack on Tuesday afternoon, while sirens sounded in Bahrain.
Oil prices rose about 2% after the latest attacks, though indications that Tehran and Washington wanted to resume diplomacy limited further gains.