BREST, France - A dozen members of the French navy scour screens for blinking lights indicating movement thousands of kilometres away near the Strait of Hormuz. Since the start of the Iran war in late February, staff at a maritime security centre in western France have been helping merchant ships trapped in the Gulf. Twin Iranian and US blockades of the Strait of Hormuz have left more than 750 civilian ships stranded on the Gulf side of the passageway, through which a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas transited before the conflict. Only a handful have managed to leave in recent weeks. If the Maritime Information Cooperation and Awareness Center (MICA center) detects any form of bombardment, it immediately sends nearby ships — container ships, cargo vessels and cruise liners — an encrypted message. “We share the nature of the event, its context and exact position,” commanding officer Thomas Scalabre tells AFP in a basement in the French city of Brest. “They can respond quickly, moving away from the danger if there are shots or debris, or even turn off their transponders so as not to be detected,” he adds. This information is sent within a radius of 50 nautical miles. For comparison, the strait itself is 29 nautical miles wide at its narrowest point. Rules ‘very unclear’ The information on the MICA monitoring screens is a mixture of satellite images, ship locations emitted by their transponders, and information shared by crews at sea. It provides help to 85 maritime transport companies, including the French group CMA CGM and the Danish giant Maersk. Beyond threats from the Middle East war, the MICA center also tracks the rest of the world’s waters — including Yemeni rebel missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea, piracy off Somalia, and drug smuggling. MICA has recorded around 40 security incidents, including 24 Iranian direct attacks on commercial vessels since Feb 28, some of them deadly, Scalabre says. France and the United Kingdom have pledged to set up a peaceful coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — but it is not to operate until after the conflict is resolved. Peace talks have stalled in recent weeks. In the meantime, “the rules Iran imposes on navigation remain very unclear and are constantly shifting,” Scalabre says, including with regards to which ships the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) might decide to single out. “There isn’t necessarily any logic in the IRGC’s targeting policy. We’ve seen many different nationalities and types of vessels” being targeted, he said. ‘Mosquito fleet’ IRGC gunboats on April 18 fired at India-flagged tanker Sanmar Herald without prior radio contact, security intelligence firm Vanguard Tech reported, despite India being viewed as a “friend” of Iran, as are China, Russia, Iraq and Pakistan. Iran also claims to have laid sea mines in the main part of the waterway. “What matters is the psychological effect. No one will take the risk of venturing there,” Scalabre says. Tehran can authorise some ships to leave the Gulf or enter it via the Strait of Hormuz. But “even when they obtain it, the IRGC’s ‘mosquito fleet’ can emerge to block their way,” Scalabre says. In his office, the commanding officer enlarges an image showing a swarm of speedboats carrying out such an attack. A dozen Iranian patrol boats burst forth, carving white foamy wakes behind them as they encircle and seize a vessel before it can leave. “They sometimes carry out indiscriminate attacks, whether the country is considered friendly or not,” the French navy officer says. “For Tehran, controlling the Strait of Hormuz remains one of its trump cards to exert pressure and negotiate” a way out of the conflict, he adds.
BREST, France - A dozen members of the French navy scour screens for blinking lights indicating movement thousands of kilometres away near the Strait of Hormuz. Since the start of the Iran war in late February, staff at a maritime security centre in western France have been helpi…
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A tanker identified as the Kaifan was struck by an unknown projectile northeast of Oman’s Limah in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a July 21 report from UK Maritime Trade Operations. No ships were observed transiting the strait that day. Attribution of the strike and links to prior incidents have not been confirmed by the vessel’s owner.
Goldman Sachs has projected Brent crude averaging $80 per barrel in the fourth quarter and $75 in the following year, conditional on reduced Middle East tensions, while noting upside risks from potential shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz or Red Sea.
Brent prices rose above $91 per barrel amid recent U.S.-Iran exchanges and Houthi threats to Saudi shipments before edging lower on Tuesday. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that mediators had proposed a 10-day ceasefire to preserve an interim agreement.
Opening summary: Iran claims attacks on strait of Hormuz ships amid fresh US strikes Welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in the Middle East crisis. Iran attacked a tanker in the strait of Hormuz early on Tuesday, forcing its crew to abandon the ship, as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis announced they were imposing an immediate maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea after the two sides traded fire last week for the first time in years.
A Houthi official said the Bab al-Mandeb strait – at the southern end of the Red Sea, through which about 12% of the world’s trade usually passes – would be closed to the Saudis in response to the kingdom’s “unjust blockade on Yemenis for over 10 years”.
Saudi Arabia said it would take “all necessary measures to protect its vessels in accordance with international law”. A 10 consecutive night of US airstrikes has not compelled Tehran to loosen its grip on the strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global energy supplies.
But even as Iran’s president said the country had returned “full-scale war”, the Iranian interior minister travelled to Pakistan – a key mediator in the conflict – for talks. In key developments: The latest US strikes came hours after Donald Trump said Iran would pay “many times over” for killing US soldiers after multiple service members were killed in action over the weekend.
A tanker came under attack early Tuesday in the Hormuz strait off Oman, forcing the crew to abandon the vessel, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed the attack as well as two other attacks on ships in the waterway on Monday.
The US military’s Central Command said its latest airstrikes were to “degrade” Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the strait and included hitting military command centres and missile and drone launch sites. Iranian media reported strikes in parts of the country including Bandar Abbas, Tabriz and Bushehr, home to the country’s only operational civilian nuclear power.
Iran’s launched attacks in response against Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, which all host US forces. Oil prices softened after hitting their highest levels in more than a month in the previous session. Brent crude futures eased 0.4% to $88.87 a barrel by 0052 GMT on Tuesday while US West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was steady at $82.
47 a barrel. Democrats have seized on the deaths of three US troops killed in Iranian strikes to urge Trump to urgently reverse his resumption of the war with Iran amid widespread anxiety over climbing casualties. The Lebanese army began taking charge of security in three southern villages, the US said, as a deal to secure an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah faced its first test on the ground.
US forces struck the tanker Settebello in the Gulf of Oman on June 10, killing three Indian crew members when munitions hit the engine room and adjacent areas. Maritime tracking data indicate the vessel had transported Iranian oil under US sanctions for several years and conducted offshore transfers prior to the strike.
The US military described the action as a precision operation, while reports note the ship was stationary at the time.