Iran said Thursday that its Revolutionary Guard's navy had struck or disabled seven oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, a claim that could not be independently verified and that US officials disputed.1,3,4
The Guard's navy said in a statement that four of the tankers were transferring oil when they were targeted and caught fire, and that three others were damaged and immobilized after hitting naval mines. Iran's state television reported the figures. The report did not provide details about possible casualties or the tankers' flags.1,3,4
The scale of the attacks was described differently. Al Jazeera called it the largest single-day toll for the waterway since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran on February 28. PBS NewsHour said it was possibly the largest single-day number of vessels damaged there since the war began, and noted that the figure was unverified.1,4
Shipping data and analysis company Lloyd's List Intelligence said Thursday that some tanker operators willing to take the risk have been moving oil from Gulf producers through the strait at night. They use a U.S. military-protected lane near Oman's coast, with location systems and mobile phones switched off. The oil is then transferred to other tankers waiting in the Gulf of Oman for shipment to customers in Asia.1
The strait is a strategic shipping route through which one-fifth of the world's oil supplies passed before the war broke out. Iran claims control over the waterway, and Al Jazeera reported that Iran regularly attacks ships that try to pass without its authorization. The US military has been escorting vessels through the strait in increasing numbers, Al Jazeera said, with Iran responding by stepping up attacks.4,1
The Revolutionary Guard also warned that it could strike US bases across the Middle East if Washington moves to help tankers transit other parts of the strait. "The US military must know that if this trend continues, the conflict will extend to its bases in the region," the IRGC said in a statement on its Sepah News website. "This is a serious warning."4
President Donald Trump said Thursday that "Iran is doing everything they can to drive up the price of oil prior to the US Midterm Election." In a post on his Truth Social platform, he wrote that "They are making up fake hits, mines, and everything else because more oil is coming through the Hormuz Strait now than it did even prior to the beginning of the conflict."4
A US Central Command spokesperson, speaking anonymously to Al Jazeera, also called Iran's mine claims incorrect. The spokesperson said US forces have cleared the international shipping lanes of mines and that Iran is using missiles and drones. The strait remains open, with 95 percent of vessels getting through, and the attacks showed Tehran's "desperation" under the US blockade, the spokesperson added.4
Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall, reporting from Tehran, said there was talk in the city of an imminent escalation in the war, with Iranians expecting the US to attack before the US midterm elections in early November. "The number of ships and tankers attacked every single day is increasing," he said.4
Reporting from the White House, Al Jazeera's Kimberly Halkett said surveys show "most Americans want relief from their tax money going to pay for any potential war with Iran that is ramped up." She added, "The pressure is on the president, and it's not just from the opposition party. It is also from within the Republican Party as well."4
Elsewhere in the region, Aramco President and CEO Amin Nasser said in an interview with Saudi-owned Al Arabiya Business that the capacity of the East-West pipeline, which bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, had surged from 2 million to 7 million barrels each day. Nasser said the company has used drones to assess damage from oilfield attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels and to help with firefighting.1
In Saudi Arabia, the Civil Aviation Authority said Thursday that the death toll from a late Wednesday attack on King Fahd International Airport had risen to two, a Saudi citizen and an Indian national, with eight others injured. Houthi rebels claimed responsibility in a statement posted on Telegram. Their military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, also claimed strikes on an Aramco facility in Yanbu and the Saudi Defense Ministry in Riyadh, but he provided no evidence for the ministry strike.1
At least four people were killed and several others wounded Thursday in Israeli strikes and gunfire in the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said. The Israeli military said strikes in Gaza City and Khan Younis targeted Hamas militants. It said it was not immediately aware of a shooting in Jabaliya that killed a woman, and did not immediately comment on a strike on a refugee camp in Nuseirat.1
Iran's state television also showed dozens of military drones on Thursday, which it said were more powerful and sophisticated than earlier versions. It said a new version of the "Arash" drone has a 100 kg (220-pound) warhead, twice as powerful as before. Army Chief Gen. Amir Hatami, cited by state television's website, said Iran has "reached a significant level of maturity in the field of drones and unmanned systems in general," and that more drones would be unveiled in the future.1
