Oil tankers ablaze in Iraq port after suspected Iranian boat attack, 1 crew member dead
Two oil tankers were set ablaze at Iraq’s Basra port on Thursday after being struck by suspected Iranian explosive-laden boats, in a sharp escalation of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, according to Reuters.
At least one crew member was killed in the attack.
Images verified by Reuters showed the vessels engulfed in massive orange fireballs that lit up the night sky over the port, one of the region’s key oil export hubs.
The attacks came hours after three other commercial ships were struck in the Persian Gulf.
Iran’s powerful military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claimed responsibility for at least one of the strikes on a Thai bulk carrier that was set on fire after allegedly ignoring warnings not to sail through the region.
Another container vessel reported being hit by an unidentified projectile near the United Arab Emirates, highlighting the widening threat to commercial shipping in Gulf waters.
The attacks come amid rising tensions following Iran’s move to shut the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply normally passes.
The disruption has already pushed global oil prices above $100 a barrel and forced many ships to halt or reroute their journeys.
Shortly after Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed to keep the strait closed, the Revolutionary Guards said they would enforce the shutdown in line with his orders.
The tanker attacks appear to be part of Iran’s broader strategy to pressure the United States and its allies by targeting energy infrastructure and shipping routes across the Gulf.
The regional conflict has continued to spread across multiple fronts. Israeli airstrikes hit a building in central Beirut on Thursday, sending thick smoke into the sky above the Lebanese capital.
Israel also ordered evacuations in parts of southern Lebanon as it intensified its offensive against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
According to current estimates, the widening war has killed more than 2,000 people across the region, including nearly 700 in Lebanon.
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