Iran widens energy threat as Hormuz battle escalates

Iran has threatened to disrupt energy exports across the Middle East as renewed US military action and a naval blockade deepen the struggle for control of the Strait of Hormuz.

The warning raised the prospect of attacks extending towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the southern entrance to the Red Sea and a vital route for oil, liquefied natural gas and container traffic. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared that regional oil and gas exports would either remain available to all countries or be denied to everyone.

Tehran’s position followed Washington’s decision to restore a blockade covering vessels travelling to and from Iranian ports. The measure took effect on Tuesday evening after attacks on commercial shipping and the collapse of arrangements that had allowed limited vessel movements through Hormuz under an interim peace framework.

US forces expanded air strikes across Iran on Wednesday and Thursday, hitting coastal defence installations, missile positions, military barracks and sites around Tehran and Semnan province. Iran responded with missiles and drones aimed at Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, which host American military personnel and facilities.

The confrontation has sharply reduced traffic through Hormuz. Only seven vessels crossed the strait on Wednesday, compared with 13 a day earlier. Four empty ships entered the Gulf, including three small oil tankers and a grain carrier, while three outbound vessels carried liquefied petroleum gas, coal and fuel oil.

No very large crude carriers or liquefied natural gas tankers used the waterway during the day. A Suezmax tanker carrying about one million barrels of Saudi crude passed through on Tuesday with its tracking equipment switched off, reflecting growing concern among shipowners and crews.

Before the war, Hormuz handled about one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments. Its closure has forced energy traders, refiners and governments to reassess supply routes, storage levels and emergency reserves. Brent crude traded above $85 a barrel on Thursday, more than 15 per cent higher than its pre-war level, although below the conflict peak of nearly $120.

Iran’s reference to other export corridors was widely interpreted as a warning involving Bab el-Mandeb. The narrow passage between Yemen and Djibouti connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Disruption there would threaten shipments using the Suez Canal and complicate Saudi Arabia’s ability to bypass Hormuz through its east-west pipeline and Red Sea terminals.

The US military also disabled the Curaçao-flagged tanker Belma as it sailed towards Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal. American forces said the vessel ignored repeated warnings before an aircraft fired a missile into its smokestack. The attack marked a direct enforcement of the restored blockade.

More than 20 US Navy warships and hundreds of military aircraft are operating across the region. Washington says the deployment is intended to protect navigation and weaken Iran’s capacity to attack commercial vessels. Tehran regards the blockade as economic warfare and an attempt to strip it of leverage in negotiations.

The fragile truce agreed in June had created an Omani shipping route overseen by US forces and opened space for talks on a permanent settlement. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the renewed blockade had effectively dismantled the Islamabad memorandum underpinning those arrangements.

Iranian officials said US strikes during the latest exchange had killed more than 35 people and wounded over 300. Seven soldiers were reported killed when missiles struck the barracks of the 388th Mechanised Infantry Brigade in Sistan and Balochistan province. Tehran also said civilian casualties occurred during attacks in southern Iran.

The United States said Iran had attacked seven commercial ships during the preceding week, leaving almost a dozen crew members killed, missing or injured. Two UAE tankers were hit in Hormuz, killing one crew member and wounding eight others.

President Donald Trump has threatened further attacks on Iranian power stations, bridges and an underground facility linked to Tehran’s nuclear programme unless Iran returns to negotiations. Strikes on infrastructure essential to civilians would face scrutiny under international humanitarian law, which requires military operations to distinguish between civilian and military targets.

The war began on February 28 with joint US and Israeli strikes against Iran. Tehran retaliated against Israel and US bases across the Gulf, drawing several neighbouring countries into the conflict despite their efforts to avoid direct participation.