US-Iran Tanker War Escalates as Both Sides Target Oil Carriers

The United States and Iran have escalated their tanker war in the past 24 hours, with Washington targeting three Iranian oil tankers and Tehran hitting tankers and firing a ballistic missile towards US warships patrolling near the Strait of Hormuz.

Experts have dubbed Iran's targeting of the two US aircraft carriers as a 'calculated escalation,' as the months-long fighting is increasingly playing out at sea, with both sides trying to exert control over the strategic strait, a global chokepoint used by Tehran as leverage in the war.

The attacks on tankers come as the US claims that an increasing volume of oil has started to flow through the strait, though the exact figures are still debatable, while the naval blockade of Iranian ports continues. The latest exchanges further dim hopes for a de-escalation through diplomacy as the US-Israel war on Iran has disrupted energy supplies and slowed economic growth around the world.

Hassan Ghashghavi, a lawmaker and spokesman for the Iranian Parliament's National Security Commission, said the attacks on US warships were part of 'an existential war with America,' arguing that Washington's naval blockade 'should never have existed' in the first place. The US has continued to build pressure on Iran to open the key waterway, both militarily and economically.