Iran-backed Houthi rebels killed six people aboard a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, the first Red Sea shipping fatalities in over a year. Hours later, U.S. forces fired missiles at a container ship attempting to breach Washington's blockade of Iranian ports, and Brent crude added 0.6% to $89.44 a barrel.
Houthi rebels killed six people aboard a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, marking the first reported fatalities from attacks targeting Red Sea shipping in more than a year. Within hours, U.S. forces said they had fired missiles at a container ship that allegedly tried to breach Washington's blockade of Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman. The twin incidents show how the war, now in its sixth month, is inflicting a widening toll on two of the world's most critical shipping lanes.
Six dead as Houthis target Red Sea shipping
Yemen's transport ministry said the casualties included four crew members aboard the vessel — identified as the Egyptian-owned, Tanzania-flagged Tihamah — three of them Pakistani nationals and one Indonesian. Yemen's coastguard separately said two members of the Yemeni government-allied National Resistance Forces were also killed in a follow-up strike as they carried out a rescue.
A Houthi-aligned media outlet later said the group's forces had targeted a ship carrying Saudi military equipment, though the Houthis haven't officially addressed the casualty figures. The group declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea on July 20, breaking a years-long Yemeni civil-war truce, calling it retaliation for a Saudi "siege" on Yemen — an allegation Riyadh has denied.
U.S. Navy strikes ship near Iranian blockade
Separately, U.S. Central Command said late Tuesday that a Navy helicopter fired two missiles at the Panama-flagged Vela Nova, disabling its steering and propulsion after the crew ignored warnings while transiting the Gulf of Oman. Centcom said the ship had tried to run past the naval blockade Washington reimposed on Iranian ports in mid-April.
U.S. forces have redirected 55 commercial vessels attempting to breach the blockade since it took effect, disabled three non-compliant ships and boarded two, according to Centcom.
Oil rallies as diplomacy stalls
The hostilities at sea come as U.S.-Iran diplomacy has stalled. Iran's Supreme National Security Council laid out sweeping demands over the weekend for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including an end to the U.S. naval blockade and sanctions relief. President Trump has countered by demanding Iran pay compensation of its own.
Traffic through the strait, which saw 20% of the world's oil trade before the conflict began in late February, has been barely trickling. Brent crude futures for October delivery added 0.6% to $89.44 a barrel on Wednesday, extending a rally that has added more than 7% this week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate for September added 0.7% to $83.8.
According to CNBC: "Current rhetoric suggests any potential deal is still some way off", said Warren Patterson, ING's head of commodities strategy, adding that risks remain skewed to the upside for oil prices.
Still, a senior Pakistani minister said Tuesday that the U.S. and Iran are close to some sort of arrangement over the strait. Pakistan's defense minister, Khawaja Asif, told reporters a peace deal is shaping up again, according to Bloomberg. A Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson separately told Al Jazeera that talks between Iran and Oman on a shipping channel through the strait were at a critical juncture.
Source: CNBC
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