Attacks on ships around Hormuz resurge as Iran warns vessels away from US-backed corridor

A new wave of attacks on vessels around the Strait of Hormuz is threatening the recovery in Middle Eastern oil exports, with the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency — affiliated with the Royal Navy — reporting seven strikes on vessels around the waterway since September 28, and another strike reported on Sunday (The Wall Street Journal).

On Saturday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy issued a warning to ships planning to use the US-backed route through the strait, saying they would be “targeted and destroyed”. “Don’t trust U.S. Navy and don’t use south corridor at all and don’t put your life in danger,” said a radio message transmitted on a public shipping channel and reviewed by the Journal (The Wall Street Journal).

The renewed attacks may already be slowing oil flows, analysts say, with firm data lagging because many ships are operating without transponders to avoid becoming targets. All seven vessels were attacked near the narrowest part of the strait, according to UKMTO (The Wall Street Journal). Separately, four tankers were struck on September 28 and 29 — including the Kuwaiti VLCC Al Funtas, where a fire broke out with the crew reported safe — according to late UKMTO reports (Oil & Gas Middle East).

The escalation comes as Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Sunday that the strait will not reopen until seven Iranian conditions set out in a June interim agreement with the US — the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding — are met, including lifting the naval blockade, unfreezing assets and halting military pressure (Reuters via Oman Observer). Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said separately that Tehran’s plan could see the strait reopen within seven days if Washington accepts it, while warning Iran was prepared to respond if the US again chose military action (Reuters via Arab News).