Iran said on 9 September it had attacked 10 vessels near the Strait of Hormuz after the United States sank five Iranian oil tankers, in the largest attacks on shipping by either side since their war began six months ago.
At least one tanker crew member was reported dead and another missing.
The attacks sent oil prices higher. Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose above US$100 a barrel for the first time since July after gaining more than 3% the previous day. It was last trading at US$101.50 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate stood at US$96.69.
The impact has extended beyond crude prices. Average US retail diesel prices reached a new record high on Wednesday, surpassing US$5.94 a gallon.
US President Donald Trump said Iran was trying to influence November’s midterm elections, which will determine whether his Republican Party retains control of Congress.
Speaking before travelling to Dallas for a Republican pre-election convention, Trump said oil prices driven by the Iran war would not fall before the vote but would decline immediately afterwards. He also said Iran would eventually agree to end the fighting because it could no longer withstand the effects of the war.
“They’re desperate to try and affect the election,”
he said.
Trump had initially said the war would last only a few weeks. It has now entered its seventh month, slowing oil shipments from the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, a route that carried about one-fifth of the world’s petroleum supply before the conflict.
The disruption has increased pressure on the Republican administration over rising fuel prices, with some party members warning the war could become a major issue for voters.
Iran also said it fired ballistic missiles at a US military base in Jordan. Jordan said it intercepted 18 missiles, while two others landed in uninhabited areas without causing harm. US officials said all American personnel were safe.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned it would intensify its response if further attacks were launched against Iran. It also said it would soon publish a larger maritime exclusion zone extending as far as Chabahar, near Iran’s border with Pakistan.
The Wall Street Journal reported that senior White House advisers, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, had privately warned Trump that the conflict could last for the remainder of his term, which ends in January 2029.
Fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi group has also intensified in recent days, opening another front in a conflict threatening energy supplies from the Middle East.
The US military said it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers overnight and released video showing the vessels on fire before sinking. US Central Command said the strikes followed two IRGC ballistic missile attacks on US Navy vessels. It said no Americans were injured or killed.
The US administration has adopted a new policy of striking Iranian oil tankers in response to fire that threatens US warships, saying it had attacked 10 Iranian tankers over the past week.
Rubio, speaking to reporters during a visit to Colombia, said Iran was still trying to attack US warships.
“Every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose a tanker,”
he said.
Iran said it had fired on two US vessels and eight oil tankers in response to the US attacks.
In recent weeks, the US administration had expressed confidence that it was increasingly able to guide tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. However, efforts to gradually restore normal shipping appear to have failed after fighting resumed this month.
Claudio Galimberti, chief economist at consultancy Rystad Energy, said oil flows through the strait had fallen to about 2 million barrels a day, from 8–9 million barrels a day in the weeks before fighting resumed on 30 August.