"All or Nothing: If We Can't Sell Oil, No One Will" — Iran Stops Three Tankers in Hormuz as Oil Jumps to $96
A twelfth night of US strikes, Iranian drones on bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain, and the Houthis hit two Saudi tankers — the world economy is shaking
The war between Iran and the United States has entered its most dangerous phase yet. Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced it had stopped three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz — a passage carrying one-fifth of the world's seaborne oil trade — with one tanker, according to the Guard, exploding and catching fire while the other two turned back.
"All or nothing"
The message from Tehran is brutally clear.
"The equation of this war is clear: all or nothing! In a region where we cannot sell oil, no one will sell oil," declared Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warning that if Iran's security is not guaranteed, "no infrastructure will remain secure."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded with a formula that captures Washington's strategy: "The president's policy is 'a head for an eye.' Honestly, that's what it's going to be."
A twelfth night of strikes — and counterstrikes
The US military carried out its twelfth consecutive night of strikes on Iranian targets, focusing on maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage sites and air defenses. Iran responded with a heavy wave of drones against three US bases in Kuwait — Camp Doha, Ali Al Salem Air Base and Camp Arifjan — as well as US facilities in Jordan and Bahrain. At the Shalamcheh border crossing with Iraq, two people were killed and 11 wounded.
The front is spreading to the Red Sea as well: Yemen's Houthis claimed responsibility for attacks with cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones on two Saudi tankers, the Encelia and the Layla. Oil has already reached $96 a barrel.
Diplomacy at a dead end
President Donald Trump threatened to bomb an Iranian bridge or power plant for every new Iranian attack on a commercial vessel. Rubio claims that "Iran is begging for a deal every day" but that its rulers cannot be trusted; Tehran, through Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, says its doctrine is "an eye for an eye." With the strait blocked, bases hit in three countries and tankers in flames — the world watches anxiously the passage through which a fifth of its oil flows.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
