Saudi, Qatari tankers hit as Strait of Hormuz risks worsen

A Qatari LNG tanker is at risk of exploding and a Saudi crude tanker has been damaged due to Iranian attacks near the Strait of Hormuz, prompting the White House to revoke a license it granted Iran to sell ⁠oil.

The attacks on Tuesday disrupted a fragile détente between Washington and Tehran in place since late June, when the two governments agreed to reopen the crucial waterway following the three-month war that sent energy prices soaring.

Following the attacks, maritime authorities raised the threat risk for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to “severe”. While traffic through the waterway has picked up in the last week, it remains tentative, ranging between one-third and one-fifth of its pre-war ⁠levels.

Washington’s decision to pull the license came with a warning to Iran that its actions in the Strait of Hormuz were “wholly unacceptable” and would be met with consequences. The White House granted the license in June, easing decades-old sanctions as part of an agreement to reopen the waterway.

“The significance of this move cannot be overstated. It is a complete destruction of the Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran,” Brett Erickson, managing principal at Obsidian Risk Advisors, said on X. “The oil sanction waivers were the only notable up front concession that Iran received for the joint lifting of blockades in the Strait of Hormuz.”

The US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) raised the threat level to transit the strait to “severe” from “substantial” on Tuesday following the attacks, citing deliberate hostile action likely under current conditions, the first time the threat level has been set at that severe status since June 15.

“The recent confirmed incidents highlight that ‌the threat environment remains heightened and warrants extreme vigilance,” JMIC said in a note, adding that mariners should expect continued naval presence, congestion along transit routes, and more intense hailing by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

It is unclear whether the attacks will lead to another full-scale interruption of shipping traffic through the strait, which prior to joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28 was used to transit about one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies.

Qatar strongly condemned the attack on one of its liquefied natural gas tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, after the vessel was hit by a projectile and caught fire.

“The targeting of the Qatari tanker ‘Al Rekayyat’ as it passed near the Strait of Hormuz constitutes an unacceptable assault on the security and safety of international navigation and global energy supplies, and a grave and blatant violation of international law, particularly the rules guaranteeing freedom of maritime navigation and safe passage through international waterways,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari wrote on X.

“We hold Iran fully legally responsible for this assault and any resulting damages or consequences.”

Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings, but Tehran did not directly claim the assault.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said the tanker had been hit near Limah, Oman, in the strait. The projectile hit the port side of the vessel while it was trying to travel south out of the strait towards the Gulf of Oman, UKMTO said. The agency said there were no reports of casualties or environmental damage, adding that authorities were investigating the incident.‌

The Saudi-flagged Wedyan supertanker was also damaged off Oman’s coast while transiting the strait. Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry condemned the attacks, saying it holds Iran fully responsible for the damage to the Wedyan, which is owned and managed by Saudi shipping firm Bahri.

Hossein Royvaran, a Tehran-based analyst, told Al Jazeera that it was possible the Qatari tanker had been targeted because it strayed into an area where Iranian teams were performing mine-clearing operations.

“The area near Oman is likely full of mines,” said Royvaran.

“There is a possibility that these ships headed in directions where Iranian teams in that area are clearing mines, and the ships’ movement might have threatened those teams.”

Tehran has repeatedly declared that only its approved route through the Strait of Hormuz is safe, and it is suspected of attacking other ships that have used another route close to the Omani shore.

The US and Iran are still in the midst of broader talks about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its desire to control Hormuz. The United States wants to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

The two countries wrapped up a round of talks last week without a permanent agreement. The latest developments challenge the oil market’s assumption that the ceasefire will hold. Oil prices were up more than 5 percent in post-market activity, with Brent crude nearing $76 a barrel.