Iran has reportedly struck another tanker in the Persian Gulf, off the coast of Oman, setting it on fire, Gulf News reported earlier today, noting the information had yet to be verified.
The information first emerged on social media, with video footage showing a vessel on fire. These reports follow earlier ones by Reuters and the Associated Press on another tanker that was hit by Iran on August 8. The vessel was Emirati and prompted condemnation from the UAE and other Gulf governments. That attack was confirmed by ADNOC and by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations.
Per the latest unverified reports on a strike in the Gulf, the vessel was struck by multiple anti-ship cruise missiles, Gulf News also wrote earlier today. Last week, ADNOC said as many as 15 of its tankers have become the target of attacks while transiting the Strait of Hormuz since the war began.
Vessel traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait crumbled last week amid a Houthi claim they had hit a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea, despite hopes that Oman and Iran could reach a deal on jointly managing Hormuz.
Analysts at security and vessel-tracking firms warned that the threats to shipping in the Gulf and the Red Sea have escalated to the worst safety situation since the Iran war began.
Meanwhile, Iran gave the United States six conditions it needs to be met before it reopens the Strait of Hormuz, prompting a jump in oil prices earlier today as the conditions are seen as difficult to swallow by Washington, including sanction relief, release of frozen assets, and the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the Persian Gulf.
“Crude oil prices remain caught between opposing forces, as markets assess the possibility of a breakthrough over the Strait of Hormuz against Iran's conditions for reopening the strategic waterway,” oil analyst Sugandha Sachdeva told Reuters.
“Any major progress towards restoring unrestricted shipping could exert downward pressure on oil prices, while a breakdown in negotiations or renewed supply disruptions could quickly revive the geopolitical risk premium,” the analyst added.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
