Iran attacks tanker in Hormuz as US strikes fail to reopen vital oil route

Dubai,UPDATED: Jul 21, 2026 15:00 IST

Iran attacked a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz early on Tuesday, forcing its crew to abandon the vessel, as the United States carried out another round of airstrikes on the Islamic Republic in an escalating confrontation over the strategic waterway. The latest developments came after 10 straight nights of US strikes that have not forced Tehran to loosen its hold over the strait, through which about a fifth of the world’s crude oil and natural gas trade used to pass in peacetime.

The fighting has intensified even as diplomatic efforts continue. The interim deal signed last month has collapsed, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled, and both sides have struck civilian infrastructure used by millions. Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni arrived in Pakistan, which has been acting as a key mediator, for talks, though it remains unclear whether any fresh agreement can be reached.

The US State Department issued a fresh warning, saying, "Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other US interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world." The escalation has also pushed up oil prices, with benchmark Brent crude trading above USD 88 a barrel on Tuesday and regular petrol in the US rising to an average of USD 4 a gallon. President Donald Trump, referring to attacks that killed US troops, wrote on social media on Monday, "Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!" He was due to attend a ceremony on Tuesday evening at Dover Air Force Base, where at least one service member’s remains were expected to arrive.

The US military’s Central Command said it had targeted "Iranian military command centres, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and air defence systems" and released more footage of strikes in Iran. It added, "American forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression toward civilian mariners seeking to freely and openly transit the strait." Iranian state media said explosions were heard in the provinces of Fars, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, and Sistan and Baluchistan.

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed sharply during the latest violence. Lloyd’s List Intelligence said only three ships passed through the waterway on Sunday. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said a tanker was attacked early Tuesday in the strait off Oman, forcing the crew to abandon ship. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed that attack as well as two other attacks on ships on Monday. The UKMTO also reported another previously unreported attack on a ship early the previous day. The route around Oman had been the one encouraged by the US military to help ships avoid Iran’s direct control of the waterway.

Iran also targeted US-allied countries in the region. Jordan’s military said on Tuesday that Iran fired five drones and three missiles at it, all of which were intercepted. The US military separately identified two soldiers killed in Jordan in attacks that left a third person missing. It also confirmed another death in Iraq on Saturday during the "controlled detonation" of a downed Iranian drone.

The Pentagon’s chief spokesperson said nearly 100 US service members have been injured since the US resumed strikes on July 7, and that 96 per cent of them had returned to duty. "The vast majority of injuries experienced were minor concussions," Sean Parnell wrote on X on Monday, responding to a New York Times report that the Pentagon had withheld information about injuries caused by Iranian strikes. He denied that the department was hiding the data. However, the Defence Casualty Analysis System, the military’s central reporting system for deaths and injuries in conflict, had not been updated by Monday night with details from the latest attacks. Since the war began on February 28, 17 US service members have been killed.

Elsewhere, Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia on Monday. The Iran-backed group said it would block shipping between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden by targeting the Bab el-Mandeb, another strategic maritime chokepoint, in response to an attack on Sanaa Airport last week that it blamed on Saudi Arabia. With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, Saudi Arabia has been relying on a pipeline to the Red Sea to move millions of barrels of oil to the market. The Houthis had earlier shown their ability to disrupt shipping there, attacking more than 100 vessels during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Saudi Arabia’s military said it would keep the route open. "All Houthi threats against transiting vessels will be dealt with swiftly and firmly, as such threats are a blatant violation of international law and fall under acts of maritime piracy," Saudi military spokesman Maj Gen Turki al-Malki said.

Pakistan has stepped up diplomatic efforts in recent days to revive the collapsed interim agreement. Momeni reached Islamabad on Monday for two days of talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other leaders. On Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington remained open to talks with Tehran, but added that "it has to be real". He said, "If the door opens to diplomacy - if the guys that want to do something productive for Iran win and take control of that system, or take control of the negotiations - that’ll be a very positive development. That’s not where we are tonight, unfortunately." Iranian authorities said on Sunday that at least 50 people had been killed and 517 wounded in the latest US strikes, underlining that the conflict has deepened on the battlefield even as efforts continue to find a diplomatic way out.

With PTI Inputs

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