Two oil tankers that had attempted to transit the Strait of Hormuz with U.S. support via the southern lane close to Oman have turned back after one of them caught fire, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Thursday, as the war in the Middle East shows no signs of abating.
“Last night, two oil tankers, encouraged by American aircraft, attempted to leave through the unsafe southern route of the Strait of Hormuz,” the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement carried by AFP.
“After a major fire broke out on one of them, both vessels quickly turned back,” the Iranian forces were quoted as saying.
The southern lane hugging Oman’s coast is believed to be protected by the U.S. and has been deemed “unsafe” by Iran.
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Since the collapse of the ceasefire, Iran has struck vessels transiting the southern lane close to Oman.
As a result, most ships, including tankers, attempting to brave the waters in the Strait of Hormuz have done so in the so-called dark mode with transponders off to avoid being detected.
Tanker operators have all but stopped attempts to transit the Strait since the hostilities returned, and Iran started attacking and harassing vessels in the Strait of Hormuz again.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces said they had successfully completed a heavy wave of strikes against IRGC targets Iran late on Wednesday in response to Iran’s attempted missile attacks on U.S. forces on Tuesday.
On Thursday, IRGC said that “The Strait of Hormuz cannot be reopened as long as the bluster and threats of US officials and their interference in maritime movements in the region continue.”
“The Strait of Hormuz is our territory, and the IRGC Navy firmly controls it,” according to the IRGC statement, as the Middle East conflict threatens to further escalate and spread to more countries after the U.S. and Saudi Arabia carried out strikes on Iran-backed militias in Iraq.
As the turmoil in the region continues, Brent oil prices jumped to above $90 per barrel early on Thursday, with the international benchmark up by 1.5% to above $92 as of early morning in Europe.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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