Iran’s military has warned that British cargo ships in the Gulf are now “legitimate targets” after three vessels were hit in the Strait of Hormuz in just 24 hours.
The Thailand-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree, the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier Star Gwyneth, and third vessel, a Japan-flagged container ship, were all hit by projectiles overnight.
While it is unclear who fired on the ships, Iran has claimed control of the critical route for 20 per cent of global oil shipments, and threatened to strike any vessel passing through it.
In a warning on Wednesday it indicated British cargo ships are now “legitimate targets”.
“We won’t allow even one litre of oil to reach the US, Zionists and their partners. Any vessel or tanker bound to them will be a legitimate target,” Ebrahim Zolfaqari, an Iranian military spokesman, said.
“Get ready for the oil barrel to be at $200 because the oil price depends on the regional security which you have destabilised,” he added.
The warning came as G7 leaders agreed to examine the option of providing escort for ships so they can navigate freely in the Gulf.
French President Emmanuel Macron had convened a call with leaders to discuss the US-Israeli war on Iran and its impact on rising energy prices.
Some of the crew of the Thailand-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree were forced to evacuate the vessel off the UAE after it was hit.
Earlier, the Japan-flagged container ship One Majesty sustained minor damage from an unknown projectile 25 nautical miles (46 km) northwest of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, two security sources said.
A third vessel, the Marshall Islands-flagged Star Gwyneth bulk carrier, was also hit by an unknown projectile approximately 50 miles northwest of Dubai, according to maritime security firms.
The latest incidents increase the number of ships that have been attacked since the conflict began to at least 14.
Peter Aylott, director of policy at UK Chamber of Shipping told Times Radio that the “indiscriminate” attacks by Iranian forces meant around 1,000 vessels were now stuck in the Gulf, including 80 to 90 with British interests.
As America sought to prize open the strait to end turmoil in oil markets, US Central Command said 16 Iranian mine-laying ships had been “eliminated” after Trump warned Tehran not to “put out any mines”.
In other developments on the 12th day of Donald Trump’s war:
*The US President said the US is “not finished yet” when asked about the war in Iran
* Preliminary findings of a Pentagon inquiry reportedly found the US responsible for the strike on a Iranian girls school that killed 170.
*US banks asked employees to evacuate their offices after Iran threatened to strike US and Israel-linked banks in the Middle East
* An FBI alert warned police departments in California that Iran could retaliate for US attacks by launching drones at the West Coast.
* Oil storage facilities were struck in Oman's Salalah port, said maritime sources. Drones struck fuel tanks in the port, Oman TV reported. There was no reported disruption to the continuity of oil supplies or petroleum derivatives in the country.
* Britain and other members of the International Energy Agency agreed to release a record 400 million barrels of oil to try to stop prices spiralling.
* The US and Israel exchanged new waves of airstrikes with Iran’s military as the conflict raged on.
* The US military warned civilians in Iran to immediately avoid all port facilities where Iranian naval forces are operating
* Israel hit Beirut with new attacks targeting militant group Hezbollah.
* Four people were injured after two drones "fell in the vicinity" of Dubai International Airport, say local officials.
* Residents in Qatar were told to shelter inside after alerts over incoming missiles.
* Senators in Washington raised fears that the US was on a “path” to putting “boots on the ground” in Iran and that Trump had “no plan” to keep open the Strait of Hormuz.
* Israeli intelligence chiefs believe Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was lightly wounded in an airstrike and that is why he has not been seen in public.
* Iran’s police chief Ahmadreza Radan warned opponents of the regime that “anyone taking into streets at the enemy’s request will be confronted as an enemy not protestor”.
* Britain was being dragged deeper into the conflict after US bombers took off from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire for airstrike missions.
The conflict has effectively blocked vital shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz, halting the flow of one-fifth of the world’s fossil energy supplies from the petroleum-rich Gulf.
But after a major surge in crude oil prices on Monday, global energy prices have tumbled and stock markets rebounded as investors bet that the US would seek to end the war soon.
Adding to market optimism, the International Energy Agency has proposed the largest release of oil reserves in its history to further stabilize crude prices, the Wall Street Journal reported.
But Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vowed to block oil shipments from the Gulf unless US and Israeli attacks ceased.
The Revolutionary Guards said it fired missiles on Tuesday evening at Qatar’s US-run Al Udeid base and the Al Harir base in Iraq’s Kurdistan, followed by drone attacks on a gathering of American troops at Al Dhafra air base in the United Arab Emirates and Juffair naval base in Bahrain.
Early on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported another round of attacks was unleashed on US military installations in Bahrain.
Overnight into Wednesday morning, millions of Israelis were repeatedly driven into bomb shelters as the military warned Iran had launched missiles toward Israel, a sign that Tehran retains the capacity to strike Israel after nearly two weeks of hostilities.
The sound of explosions from air defences intercepting the rockets punctuated the pre-dawn darkness as air raid sirens blared and Israelis scrambled to safe rooms and shelters.
The latest attacks from Iran roughly coincided with a new Israeli barrage on Beirut aimed at rooting out the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, which has fired into Israel from Lebanon in solidarity with the Tehran government.
After the naming of new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, a hardliner chosen to succeed his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was killed on the war’s first day, the Tehran regime warned opponents not to take to the streets.
Iran’s police chief Ahmadreza Radan warned that “anyone taking into streets at the enemy’s request will be confronted as an enemy not protestor.”
“All our security forces have their fingers on the trigger,” Radan told state television.
Iran also arrested dozens of people, including a foreign national, accused of spying for the country’s “enemies,” the Intelligence Ministry said on Tuesday.
More than 1,300 Iranian civilians have been killed since the US and Israeli air strikes began on February 28, according to diplomats.
Dozens of Beirut residents have also been killed in Israeli attacks, while Iranian strikes on Israel have killed at least 11 people.
Seven US soldiers have been killed in the conflict and the Pentagon on Tuesday estimated about 140 American troops have been wounded.
