Iranian cruise missiles struck two Emirati tankers in Omani territorial waters on Monday, killing one crew member, and the United States flew a third consecutive night of strikes against Iranian military targets in response. The United Arab Emirates condemned the attack on its ships, which its defence ministry said were transiting a recognised shipping lane.
The UAE Ministry of Defence said the two tankers were hit by two Iranian cruise missiles in the southern shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz, inside Omani territorial waters. Fires broke out on both vessels, one crew member was killed and both ships were damaged. That southern lane, close to the Omani coast, is the corridor the US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center has recommended to merchant shipping since Iran declared the strait closed.
US Central Command began its third consecutive night of strikes at 4.45pm Washington time on Monday, Tuesday morning on the Australian east coast. The command said targets included coastal surveillance systems, air defences, radar, and missile and drone infrastructure, after weekend strikes it put at about 140 targets. Its stated objective is unchanged: degrading Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping.
Iranian state media reported one telecommunications worker killed and two people wounded on Farur Island, and one person killed and four wounded at a water pumping station at Mahshahr. The IRNA news agency said at least 10 projectiles hit Qeshm Island on Sunday evening. None of those casualty figures have been independently verified.
Donald Trump said he was reinstating what he called a blockade on Iranian shipping, and demanded a 20 per cent payment on cargoes transiting the strait, a figure that works out to roughly US$30 million on a loaded supertanker. How the payment would be collected, and from whom, was not set out.
Six vessels transited the strait on Sunday, the lowest daily count in five weeks. Iran's Revolutionary Guard says the strait is closed until further notice. US Central Command says it remains open to vessels seeking lawful transit. The US Energy Information Administration calls the channel the world's most important oil chokepoint, carrying about a fifth of global oil consumption.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that full-scale hostilities would bring what he called catastrophic consequences. The mediation track through Muscat, where Oman and Qatar have carried messages between Washington and Tehran, has not been declared dead by either side.
Australia's exposure has not changed: an RAAF E-7A Wedgetail aircraft deployed to the region since March, a suspended embassy in Tehran, and travel advice for Iran that remains do not travel.
As of Tuesday the strait's status is still a matter of who is describing it. Iran calls it closed, Washington calls it open, and the ships hit this week were in the recommended lane. The talks in Muscat continue.
