Iran announced Sunday that it had struck a US drone ship that was trying to enter the Strait of Hormuz, a claim the US military denied as a “total lie.”
The alleged attack came a day after the US military announced that its forces struck three Iranian oil tankers in response to the targeting of Navy warships with ballistic missiles. Experts described it as a dangerous escalation after Iran’s previous attacks at sea targeted commercial ships.
The war began with American and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28. But since the fragile ceasefire agreement was announced in June, sporadic fighting has continued, with both sides trying to inflict military and economic damage as negotiations collapse.
The strikes came about a week after the resumption of fighting
The United States and Iran resumed their attacks last week, after a month of relative calm, with the Strait of Hormuz and areas along Iran’s southern coast once again being targeted. At least five people were killed earlier in the week during a US bombing that brought attention to the area where a school was bombed in the first strikes of the war.
The Trump administration appears to have adopted a dual approach to the conflict, responding militarily to attacks on the Strait while pursuing foreign financial institutions that handle Iranian money.
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But the new senior hardline leaders in Tehran have shown their willingness to endure after decades of sanctions. Iran has found ways over the years to circumvent sanctions, and now the US blockade of its ports, and get its oil to buyers to help ease mounting economic pressures. This depends in part on the shadow fleet that transports its oil.
The United States says that one million barrels of oil pass through the strait daily
Tehran’s new influence focuses on the Strait of Hormuz, which is considered crucial for global oil and natural gas shipments. It was viewed as an international waterway before the war began.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday that an average of 9 million barrels of oil pass through the strait daily, which should help ease pressure on energy prices. Its estimates appear to exceed average flows over the past 28 days through the strait, according to TankerTrackers.com and other sources.
With oil also flowing through pipelines in the region, “we may be at two-thirds or more of pre-conflict flows,” Wright told CNN.
But those flows depend on the presence of the US Navy to help escort the tankers and provide some protection against a potential Iranian attack. Wright said he expects other countries will eventually support the Navy’s efforts.
On the other hand, Iran’s nuclear program, the issue that contributed to the war, was supposed to be addressed in negotiations that collapsed shortly after the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in mid-June.
Diplomats say the United States, Britain, France and Germany are now seeking to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council for non-compliance with its nuclear non-proliferation obligations.
—Magdy reported from Cairo and Frankel from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Konstantin Torobin in Washington and Josh Boak in Bridgewater, New Jersey, contributed to this report.
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