TEL AVIV/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Iran attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded crude oil tanker off Dubai on early on Tuesday, after President Donald Trump warned the United States would obliterate Iran’s energy plants and oil wells if it does not open the Strait of Hormuz.
The strike on the Kuwait-flagged Al-Salmi is the latest attack on merchant vessels by missiles or explosive air and sea drones in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
Crude oil prices briefly spiked again after the attack on the tanker, which can carry around 2 million barrels of oil worth more than $200 million at current prices.
Kuwait Petroleum Corp, the ship’s owner, said the attack happened early on Tuesday, causing a fire and hull damage.
Authorities in Dubai later said they had brought the fire under control following a drone attack on the tanker. with no oil leak and no injuries to the crew.
The jump in oil and fuel prices has started to weigh on US household finances and become a political headache for Trump and his Republican Party before November midterm elections, having vowed to lower energy prices and increase U.S. oil and gas production.
The US national average retail price of gasoline crossed $4 a gallon for the first time in over three years on Monday, data from price-tracking service GasBuddy showed. Tightening global supplies have pushed benchmark Brent crude up 56% this month, the largest rise on record, to above $113 a barrel.
Attacks by both sides show no signs of easing, with fears of a wider regional conflict growing.
Iran-aligned Houthis have entered the war by firing missiles and drones at Israel and Turkey reported a ballistic missile launched from Iran had entered Turkish airspace before being shot down by NATO air and missile defences.
Sounds of explosions were heard in parts of eastern and western Tehran minutes after Israel issued a warning of imminent strikes in the city, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday.
Residents in the eastern Pirouzi district reported power outages after the blasts, and officials from Iran’s Energy Ministry began efforts to restore power, Tasnim said.
A strike on a Shi’ite congregation hall in the northwestern Iranian city of Zanjan on Tuesday killed three people and injuring 12, a provincial official told Iranian media.
The Israeli military said early on Tuesday that four soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon, the same area as where three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia have been killed, in two separate incidents.
Iran’s military spokesman said on state television that targets in its latest missile and drone attacks included “hideouts” of US military personnel in five bases in the region and in Israel.
