US Central Command Hits Dozens of Iranian Targets After Qatari LNG Tanker Al Rekayyat Catches Fire and Two Other Vessels Are Struck. Ceasefire Memorandum Teeters as Oil Jumps
The U.S. military launched new strikes against Iran early Wednesday, hours after three merchant ships were struck in the Strait of Hormuz, in the latest exchange of fire to threaten the interim deal to end the fighting between the two countries. NPR
One tanker was traveling off the coast of Oman when it was hit and caught fire. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault.
The other two ships sustained some damage, but no one was injured, and both continued on their way. The Al Rekayyat, a Qatari tanker, was struck by an unidentified projectile 8 miles east of Limah, Oman, sparking a fire. A third tanker was struck by a drone off Oman.
U.S. Central Command said it had begun “powerful strikes” in response to attacks on vessels crewed by “innocent civilians” in the Strait of Hormuz. Hours after the three tankers were struck, the United States revoked a licence authorising the sale of Iranian oil as part of the interim ceasefire deal.
The strikes came during the dayslong funeral for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the beginning of the war. Oil prices jumped almost 2% on Tuesday, with Brent crude futures rising $1.86 to $72.85 a barrel.
Three tankers struck, a ceasefire licence revoked, and new strikes launched, all on the same day that Iran was burying its Supreme Leader. The interim deal between the US and Iran was fragile before Tuesday. After Tuesday, it is something considerably more uncertain.
Check out our previous coverage of the US-Iran war and Strait of Hormuz on The Trusted Times.
