Iran has attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded crude oil tanker off Dubai, as President Donald Trump threatened to obliterate Iran’s energy plants and oil wells if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz — a waterway that normally carries around a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
The strike on the Kuwait-flagged Al-Salmi, which can carry approximately two million barrels of oil worth more than $200 million at current prices, is the latest in a series of missile and drone assaults on merchant vessels in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February. Kuwait Petroleum Corp, the vessel’s owner, said the attack caused a fire and hull damage but resulted in no reported injuries. Dubai authorities later said the fire had been brought under control.
Crude oil prices briefly spiked after news of the strike before retreating following a Wall Street Journal report that Trump had privately told aides he was willing to end the military campaign even if the strait remained largely closed, leaving its reopening for a later date.
Trump issued his threat in a social media post shortly after Iran’s foreign ministry dismissed US peace proposals as “unrealistic, illogical and excessive”. He wrote that if a deal was not reached and the strait not immediately reopened, the US would conclude its military presence in Iran by destroying all of the country’s electric generating plants, oil wells and Kharg Island, also threatening Iranian desalination facilities.
However, the White House said talks with Iran were continuing and making progress, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt noting that what Tehran says publicly differs from what it tells US officials in private. A new deadline of 6 April has been set for Iran to open the strait.
Conflict widens across the region
The month-long war has shown no sign of easing. Iran-aligned Houthis have entered the conflict by firing missiles and drones at Israel. Turkey reported that a ballistic missile launched from Iran crossed into Turkish airspace before being intercepted by NATO air defences. Israel carried out missile strikes on what it described as military infrastructure in Tehran and on Hezbollah positions in Beirut, with explosions heard across parts of the Iranian capital and residents in the eastern Pirouzi district reporting power outages.
Iran’s military said its latest wave of strikes targeted what it described as hideouts of US military personnel at five bases across the region and in Israel.
Thousands of soldiers from the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division have begun arriving in the Middle East, two US officials told Reuters, as part of reinforcements that would give Trump the option of a ground assault on Iran even while diplomatic efforts continue.
The conflict has already pushed US petrol prices above $4 a gallon for the first time in more than three years, according to price-tracking service GasBuddy, as tightening global supplies drive US crude above $101 a barrel — a growing political liability for Trump ahead of November’s midterm elections.
The White House also confirmed Trump was considering asking Arab nations to contribute to the cost of the war. His administration has separately requested an additional $200 billion in war funding from Congress, a measure facing significant opposition.
(Reuters)