Iran warns it will hit oil tankers at Strait of Hormuz

A senior Iranian military official warned that Iranian armed forces would target any oil tanker trying to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, local media reported on March 3.

The flow of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Persian Gulf has been severely disrupted since February 28, when the United States and Israel launched an all-out air campaign against Iran, which triggered Iranian retaliatory strikes on US bases in regional Arab oil producers, leading to a sharp rise in prices.

Brent crude futures were at $80.89 a barrel, up 4.1%, on March 3 while US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 3.6%, to $73.78 a barrel. With gas prices in the UK sports market up more than 40% in recent hours, according to the latest information from London. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has already warned that the strait is unsafe due to the military strikes by the US, Israel, and Iran’s responses.

“The Strait is closed,” Brigadier General Ebrahim Jabbari, advisor to the commander-in-chief of the IRGC, told state TV, adding “Any ship seeking to pass will be set ablaze by the naval forces of the IRGC and the army,” Jabbari added.

He urged oil tankers not to approach the waterway, saying they would face a “serious and decisive” response from the Iranian armed forces.

Jabbari also threatened that Iran would blow up oil pipelines in the region. “We will not allow oil to be exported from the region so that they are put in a tight spot,” he said, in a clear reference to Iran’s attempt to raise the cost of war for the aggressors and their supporters in the region and the West.

At least three oil tankers are understood to have been hit in recent hours, with Tehran admitting it would continue to target anyone not taking its threats seriously. Scores of vessels, including crude oil and LNG tankers, are stranded in the Persian Gulf and outside the Strait of Hormuz, an artery through which nearly a fifth of the world’s crude oil passes daily.

IntelliNews, citing a security source, reported on March 3 that a fuel tank at the commercial port of Duqm in Oman came under a drone attack, according to Oman News Agency.

Iran, the third largest OPEC producer, has been exporting around 1.5mn barrels of oil per day in recent months, almost all of which end up in China.

It remains unclear what the closure of the Strait of Hormuz will mean for Iran’s own oil sales.