strikeJul 21, 2026

Inside the US strike on a shadow fleet tanker

Summary

Inside the US strike on a shadow fleet tanker Evidence suggests the ship on which three Indian sailors died was not moving when it was struck in the Gulf of Oman, but it had been engaged in risky offshore transfers of oil. To the sailors recruited from India, it was just another job. But the ship they boarded was a shadow fleet tanker destined for a war zone. The Settebello had spent at least five years moving Iranian oil that was under US sanctions, often disguising its location, according to a maritime tracking firm. It hid again in early June in the Gulf of Oman, east of the Strait of Hormuz, where it loaded fuel from other ships at sea. On the morning of June 10, it became a target of the US Navy. Shortly after 7am, US missiles blasted into the engine room where an engineer and mechanic had just begun their shifts, killing both men instantly. A young cadet having breakfast next door suffered fatal head wounds. They were the first and only civilian victims of the American blockade on Iranian ports – and among at least 17 sailors killed since the war began, according to the United Nations, most of them casualties of Iranian strikes. Just how they became casualties of a war they weren’t part of offers a window into the dangers faced by merchant sailors in the Middle East, where fighting between the United States and Iran has made the waters in and around the Strait of Hormuz some of the world’s deadliest. The US military said it fired precision munitions into the Settebello’s engine room because it was violating the American blockade on Iranian ports and repeatedly failed to comply with directions. At the same time, evidence suggests the ship was drifting with its engine off at the time of the strike, leading experts to ask whether it was an avoidable and excessive use of force by the United States. The ship’s crew faced heightened danger because of risky decisions by its command to load up oil, most likely Iranian, in a series of ship-to-ship transfers in the days before the strike, despite Navy warnings about the US blockade. This account of the days and hours before the fatal encounter was pieced together through interviews with crew members, US military officials and families of victims. The crew members spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal by their employers. Both the sailors’ and military’s accounts are incomplete. US Central Command declined to share recordings of the communications made with the crew and specify when exactly they occurred. But the findings offer the most detailed account of the events that turned the Settebello’s cargo mission into a fatal encounter. A risky job The 28 men aboard the ship were mostly Indian, and most had joined within the past year, according to records obtained from their recruitment agency. The Settebello had a five-year history of moving Iranian oil, according to TankerTrackers.com, a company that monitors global shipping. The US military said it was a part of a shadow fleet designed to evade sanctions, even though the ship itself was not under sanctions by the United States. In late April, the crew began its journey from the Chinese port of Lianyungang and headed to the Gulf of Oman, according to ship-tracking data. In daily calls, Rajesh Sharma, whose son, Aditya, was the trainee cadet killed in the attack, had urged his son to leave and come home. But his son said that he needed to keep working if he wanted to achieve his dream of one day becoming a captain, Sharma said. Over the first eight days of June, critical days before the strike, the ship appeared to be stationary in Oman’s territorial waters off the port of Shinas, according to analysis of satellite imagery by TankerTrackers.com. A crew member said the ship had its anchor down during this period. On June 2, a new captain, Sanjeet Kumar Behera, joined the ship. Then the Settebello loaded oil at sea from several ships, according to two crew members. One of them said that he suspected the fuel was Iranian but that the crew was not told the source of oil. That, he said, would be known only by the ship’s owner and captain. A spokesperson for US Central Command, Captain Tim Hawkins, told the New York Times that US intelligence determined the oil was Iranian. He said that in the days before the strike, the Settebello’s crew dismissed nearly 60 verbal warnings relayed via radio, often retorting “belligerently” and ignoring at least eight military shows of force that included flares and fighter jet flyovers. “The vessel went out of its way to not comply,” he said. Manoj Yadav, general secretary of the Forward Seamen’s Union of India, told the Times he had been briefed by Behera and other senior crew members. They told him they had only received general warnings after June 2 that they did not believe applied to the Settebello. The warnings instructed vessels not to move toward blockaded Iranian ports and were announced over a radio system used by many ships, he said. Yadav added that the crew denied responding to US warnings. “Sailors are ordinary people, not combatants trained for war,” Yadav said. The final moments On June 8, as a spasm of hostilities jeopardised a two-month ceasefire, the Settebello made its riskiest gambit. The crew sailed for a few hours into the middle of the Gulf of Oman, where they expected a second ship to transfer oil to the Settebello, one crew member said. By now, the Settebello was carrying 26,000 metric tons of bitumen, a thick petroleum product used in road construction, according to a crew member. Then they turned the engine off, and the ship began to drift, according to three crew members. The second ship never came, a crew member said. The sailors were worried. They heard that other ships had been struck by the United States, including in late May and early June. On June 8, another tanker, the Marivex, was struck in the Gulf of Oman. Still, the Settebello crew went about their daily routines. They drifted for more than a day, one crew member said. At the time of the strike, at 7.14 am on June 10, the ship’s crew was largely asleep. A cadet was manning the radio on the bridge, as the captain rested in his room, according to two sailors. Hawkins said the ship received two final warnings, the last telling the crew it had 15 minutes to evacuate the engine room. He declined to say if the ship responded. Yadav said a cadet, who was on the bridge for three hours before the attack, told him he had heard no warnings. The missiles fired from a US warplane rocked the 182-metre tanker and killed Suresh Patnala, the Settebello’s chief engineer; Shivanand Chaurasia, a fitter; and the trainee cadet, Aditya Sharma. The aftermath Their deaths drew a diplomatic protest from India, which supplies 12 per cent of the world’s merchant shipping workforce. But more persistent has been a campaign led by the Indian seamen’s union. It is demanding compensation from the US government for the victims’ families and an independent investigation into what it has publicly called a “war crime.” Several naval warfare experts who reviewed footage of the strike, which was released by the US military, said the ship appeared to be drifting or at rest. There was no indication the ship was moving. The US military declined to comment on whether the ship was drifting. International law requires countries to pursue the least destructive means to stop ships suspected of carrying contraband. Whether the US Navy did so is the central question in the attack on the Settebello. Whether a vessel is moving or resting is key to determining if a military strike is legal when enforcing a blockade, according to Dr Ian Ralby, who is president of the maritime governance nonprofit group, Auxilium Worldwide. “You disable a vessel that is actively in violation – as in, it is under way. Why shoot out the engine room if the engines aren’t even running?” he said. Todd Huntley, a retired Navy captain and national security law expert at Georgetown Law, said there were questions about why the military did not choose to search the vessel, but the military’s account of multiple warnings being rebuffed by the crew would make the use of disabling force “much more reasonable”. The Central Command spokesperson, Hawkins, said seizing a ship resisting the blockade is a potentially risky operation, and it is safer to disable it. ‘Someone killed my husband. No one is accepting the blame, but someone is responsible.’Patnala Bala Bhargavi, wife of engineer Suresh Patnala. The ship’s Emirates-based manager, IOS Marine FZE, could not be reached by phone. The surviving crew members and relatives of those killed said they have been unable to reach the tanker’s owner, Aqua Aurora Shipping Lines, which does not have publicly listed contact information. For the families of the three men killed, grief is mixed with anger. “He was doing his job there. They don’t have weapons. They are all civilians,” said Rajesh Sharma, who said this was his son’s first voyage as a trainee, earning a $US200 monthly stipend. Sharma attended a union meeting this month in Mumbai, where he scrolled through photos of his son on his phone. “This was Aditya’s last selfie,” he said, pointing to his son, in a Batman T-shirt with the open sea behind him. Another photograph he received hours later showed his son lying unconscious, a cloth tied around his head to stem the bleeding, wearing the same T-shirt. Patnala Bala Bhargavi, 39, the wife of the Settebello’s chief engineer, who was also killed, said, “Someone killed my husband. No one is accepting the blame, but someone is responsible.” This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.

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Pranav Baskar; Pragati K B; Eric SchmittBy Pranav Baskar; Pragati K B; Eric Schmitt
Inside the US strike on a shadow fleet tanker Evidence suggests the ship on which three Indian sailors died was not moving when it was struck in the Gulf of Oman, but it had been engaged in risky offshore transfers of oil. To the sailors recruited from India, it was just another …

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Jul 23, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIranProxy

UK ‘ready to defend itself’ after Iranian threat over US bases

○ 1 source

The government has said the UK is “ready to defend itself” after Iran’s military warned that any bases being used by the US were “legitimate targets”. The UK has allowed the US to launch “defensive” operations from British bases hosting American planes since the start of its war on Iran but has refused to help in offensive operations.

That policy has not been altered by the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, who was notified last week that a decision had been made to extend the agreement with the US. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Thursday that “any base used for aggression against Iranian territory constitutes a legitimate target for our forces”.

In a statement published on the IRGC-linked Tasnim news agency, the group said American bombing missions had been launched from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire two days earlier. The statement came after the US carried out a 12th consecutive night of strikes against targets in Iran.

The Ministry of Defence has not commented on whether Fairford was used by the US for operations against Iran this week. The IRGC also accused the “British monarchy regime” of causing being the “primary cause of hardships in our region with a black record of partitioning Islamic nations, widespread massacres, imposing despotic regimes, and organising the occupation of Palestine”.

It warned the government “not to weigh down its record any further”. A spokesperson for the British government said: “Our armed forces are ready to keep the United Kingdom safe from any kind of attacks, whether it’s on our soil or from abroad. The UK stands ready 24/7 to defend itself.

“This includes through operating a layered approach to air and missile defence, provided by Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force assets equipped with a range of advanced capabilities, working closely with our Nato allies. “We are committed to defending our people, our interests and our allies, acting in accordance with international law and not getting drawn into the wider conflict.

” On 1 March a drone struck the RAF base at Akrotiri in Cyprus, hitting a hangar, and prompting a partial evacuation of the facility. On 19 March, Iran fired two ballistic missiles at the UK’s Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands. One reportedly failed mid-flight, while the other was shot down by a US airship.

Iran has launched strikes against countries in the Gulf that house US military bases, including Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, killing American service personnel in some of the attacks. Donald Trump said Iran would “pay a big price” for killing US troops.

On Thursday afternoon, the US president said he was considering ordering a “massive attack” on Iran. “I am close to making a decision,” he told Axios. “We’re all set for it.” He said he believed Iran’s leaders “want to negotiate”, but aren’t yet ready to make a deal.

In another sign of the conflict potentially escalating, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday, as oil topped $100 a barrel.

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Jul 23, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIranProxyRussia

Oil Prices Soar as US-Iran Conflict Expands to Red Sea

○ 1 source

September WTI crude oil (CLU26) on Thursday closed up +5.36 (+6.17%), and September RBOB gasoline (RBU26) closed up +0.0793 (+2.44%). WTI crude oil prices (CLU26) rallied more than +6% on Thursday after the Iran-backed Houthis launched a missile and drone attack on two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea, expanding the oil disruptions beyond the Strait of Hormuz and threatening oil shipments in the Red Sea.

Sep Brent crude oil prices (CBU26) on Thursday rallied above $100 per barrel for the first time since May. President Trump said in an interview with Axios on Thursday that he is considering a “massive attack” that would be “bigger than ever before” and is “close to making a decision on it.

”Don’t Miss a Day: From crude oil to coffee, sign up free for Barchart’s best-in-class commodity analysis. The Houthis have vowed to blockade shipping linked to Saudi Arabia and warned shipowners against calling at the nation's ports. The move threatens Saudi oil exports from Yanbu, a Red Sea hub that the Saudi's are using to ship crude since the war brought shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to a near halt.

Meanwhile, the US and Iran exchanged attacks for the 12th straight day, and the US maintained its blockade of Iranian oil shipments in the Persian Gulf. Global crude oil supplies are tightening due to reduced flows through the Strait of Hormuz. The International Maritime Organization warned last Wednesday that it is too dangerous to cross the Strait of Hormuz at the moment, and visible transit through the strait has fallen sharply as Iran continues targeting tankers attempting to transit it.

Crude prices also have support as Ukraine intensifies drone attacks on Russian oil infrastructure. Russian crude production fell to 8.928 million bpd in June, the lowest in 2.5 years, according to monthly OPEC data. According to EA Analytics, Russian crude-processing rates will average 3.

51 million bpd in July, the lowest in 24 years, amid damage to Russian energy infrastructure caused by drone and missile attacks from Ukraine. According to Bloomberg, Ukrainian forces have attacked Russian fuel-producing facilities more than 50 times this year, hitting at least 24 of Russia’s 34 largest refineries.

As of the end of June, around 90% of Russian regions have imposed some form of fuel rationing or reported supply issues, as refining capacity has plunged following damage to facilities. The strikes have deepened a nationwide gasoline shortage, with several major refineries shut down and the government banning almost all gasoline, jet fuel and diesel exports.

Russia is the world’s number two diesel exporter, after the US, according to Vortexa. Stronger Russian crude exports are also adding to global oil supplies, which is bearish for prices. Data compiled by Bloomberg show the four-week average of Russian crude exports rose to 4.

13 million bpd through June 28, the highest since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Russia may be boosting its crude exports as the country’s refining capacity has plunged due to damage at its refining facilities from Ukraine drone and missile attacks.

The outlook for higher US crude output is negative for oil prices. The Department of Energy (DOE) on July 7 raised its US 2026 crude production estimate to 13.78 million bpd from a June estimate of 13.72 million bpd. As a bearish factor for crude, OPEC delegates said on May 14 that the cartel aims to continue a series of oil quota increases over the next few months, completing the return of halted oil production by the end of September.

The group already formally agreed to restore about two-thirds of the 1.65 million bpd supply cutback it made back in 2023 and said it plans to raise output targets further and to revive the final portion in three more monthly stages. On July 5, OPEC+ said it will boost its crude output by 188,000 bpd in August, though that increase might prove difficult due to revived US-Iran military attacks in the region.

OPEC’s June crude production rose by +2.34 million bpd to 18.75 million bpd. Vortexa reported on Monday that crude oil stored on tankers that have been stationary for at least 7 days rose +31% w/w to 90.03 million bbl in the week ended July 17. Wednesday’s weekly EIA report was mostly negative for crude oil and products.

EIA crude inventories unexpectedly rose +2.01 million bbl versus expectations of a -1.95 million bbl decline. Also, EIA gasoline supplies rose by +765,000 bbl versus expectations of a -1.9 million bbl decline. In addition, EIA distillate stockpiles rose by +1.

4 million bbl, a larger build than expectations of +825,000 bbl. On the positive side, crude supplies at Cushing, the delivery point for WTI futures, fell -624,000 bbl. Wednesday’s EIA report showed that (1) US crude oil inventories as of July 17 were -5.

3% below the seasonal 5-year average, (2) gasoline inventories were -7.1% below the seasonal 5-year average, and (3) distillate inventories were -9.6% below the 5-year seasonal average. US crude oil production in the week ending July 17 fell -0.5% w/w to 13.

798 million bpd, just below the record high of 13.862 million bpd posted in the week of November 7. Baker Hughes reported last Friday that the number of active US oil rigs in the week ended July 17 rose by +7 to a 13-month high of 452 rigs, up from the 4.

25-year low of 406 rigs posted in December 2025. However, the number of US oil rigs remains sharply below the 5.5-year high of 627 reported in December 2022. On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article.

All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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Jul 23, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIsraelIran

IDF to deal 'crushing blow' to Iran, if it attacks Israel — Ynet

○ 1 source

TEL AVIV, July 23. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will deal "a crushing blow" to Iran, if it attacks the Jewish state, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned, according to the Ynet portal. "We are ready for any development of events. If Iran attacks Israel, we will deal a crushing blow," he said.

Earlier on Thursday, US President Donald Trump said that he was considering carrying out a massive attack on Iran, and the strikes would be harder than before. According to the American leader, Israel will "join the attack in two minutes" if requested by the United States.

However, he added that Washington "does not need anyone" to launch a new military operation. Trump did not specify a deadline for making a decision. The United States and Israel started a war with Iran on February 28. In June, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding providing for an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

However, on the night of July 8, the United States resumed large-scale strikes against Iran, accusing it of violating the terms of the agreements regarding the Strait of Hormuz.

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Jul 23, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIsraelIran

UK 'ready to defend itself' after Iran says bases are 'legitimate targets'

○ 1 source

The British government stated that it stands ready to defend itself following Iranian comments designating UK bases hosting US forces as legitimate targets in response to US military strikes on Iran. Iranian officials described the UK as an accomplice to US operations, while UK policy has allowed US use of bases such as RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia for what the UK has termed defensive purposes.

Permissions for this arrangement, first granted in March, were extended under the current UK government.

Location: Iran

Sean Seddon