Another tanker attacked in the Strait of Hormuz

A tanker was hit by three unidentified projectiles while sailing out of the Strait of Hormuz, adding to tensions around a passage vital to global shipments of oil, gas and fertilizer.

The British maritime security agency UKMTO reported that the incident occurred about 30 kilometers east of Khasab, an Omani town. No one was injured, and responsibility for the attack remained unknown.

The attack followed the first renewed exchange of strikes between Iran and the United States since the end of July. The U.S. military said it had attacked Iranian Revolutionary Guard units that were trying to lay mines in the strait. Iran responded by firing missiles at U.S. military bases in Jordan, which Jordanian officials said were intercepted.

Iran has used threats and attacks on ships to largely obstruct traffic through the strait, according to the report. U.S. forces have nevertheless repeatedly escorted ships along the Omani coast through the passage between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, according to U.S. media reports.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would immediately reciprocate if the United States returned to its commitments under an interim agreement signed in June to end the war. He made the comments at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency. The United States also announced new sanctions on Iran a week earlier.