Iran says 7 oil tankers attacked in the Strait of Hormuz as fears grow of a return to war

Iranian state television reported Thursday that seven oil tankers caught fire or were damaged in the Strait of Hormuz after being hit by Iran or striking naval mines, a claim The Associated Press could not independently confirm. The Revolutionary Guard Corps navy threatened to strike U.S. military bases in the region if Washington continues helping guide commercial ships through the waterway. The report did not mention casualties.

The incidents come as tensions rise ahead of Israel's Oct. 27 election and next month's U.S. midterms. Danny Citrinowicz, a researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies and former Iranian specialist in Israeli military intelligence, told the AP that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to attack Iran and that a clear Netanyahu victory would make an attack almost guaranteed. Citrinowicz accused Israel of rushing into another round with Iran without revamping its strategy and said the region is heading toward another kinetic escalation regardless of the election outcome.

October has seen the most reported attacks on commercial shipping since the war's opening weeks in March, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, though the British monitor did not report the latest incidents and noted new reluctance by some shippers to report them. Experts say oil producers have kept crude flowing but at a mounting cost.

The United States is sending more military assets to the region, including a third aircraft carrier and thousands of troops, joining the largest American naval and air force presence in the Middle East in decades. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday that Tehran remains open to diplomacy but is ready to defend itself, warning that Iran has learned military lessons from the war that began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28 and could expand targets to include infrastructure such as undersea cables and data centers.

Mediators have been trying to bring Washington and Tehran back to formal talks. Iran promotes a proposal to end the war and fully open the strait within a week if the U.S. meets conditions including ending the blockade of Iranian ports, terms that echo a deal that fell apart days after both sides signed it in June. President Donald Trump rejected that seven-day proposal in late September, though both sides acknowledge indirect discussions have continued.

Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal