Two IRGC gunboats approached a tanker 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman on Saturday and opened fire. No radio challenge came first, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations, which relayed the report. It gave no details on the type of weapons used.
The tanker was the Indian-linked Sanmar Herald, and audio posted online by the OSINT account OSINTtechnical purports to capture its crew pleading with Iranian forces to stop shooting. India summoned the Iranian ambassador in New Delhi to condemn the attack by the IRGC Navy. A second vessel, described as a container ship, was reportedly hit by an “unknown projectile” later in the day.
Open on Friday, shut on Saturday
The shooting came after a day of whiplash. On Friday, Iran’s foreign minister said the Strait of Hormuz was fully open to commercial traffic, and President Donald Trump welcomed the announcement. Markets reacted at once: US equities rose, crude fell and Treasury yields declined, ZeroHedge noted.
By early Saturday the picture reversed. Iran’s military said the strait had “reverted to its previous state of strict military control,” the Wall Street Journal reported. About 20 ships waiting to enter the Persian Gulf turned back toward Oman. One Hong Kong owner with a container ship in the queue told the paper that the Revolutionary Guards were radioing that the strait was closed, though some vessels had reportedly been ready to pay $2 million in tolls to get through.
Not every ship stopped. The Sanmar Herald, apparently on the Larak island route that Iran has sanctioned, kept moving, while two tankers on the neutral route, Minerva Evropi and Nissos Keros, turned around. A convoy of eight tankers was also reported crossing on Saturday.
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote on X that passage would follow a “designated route” and need “Iranian authorization.” He said the strait would not stay open while the US blockade continued.
Washington’s response
Trump called a Situation Room meeting on Saturday morning about the strait and the Iran negotiations, two US officials told Axios. One official said the war may resume if talks produce no breakthrough.
The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials, that the US military is preparing in coming days to board Iran-linked oil tankers and seize commercial ships in international waters, widening its crackdown beyond the Middle East. US Central Command has said the Navy has already turned back at least 23 ships that had been at Iranian ports.
Trump said earlier that the talks were going “very well” and that negotiations would continue through the weekend. He also told reporters: “Maybe I won’t extend it, so you have a blockade, and unfortunately, we’ll have to start dropping bombs again.” He has claimed Iran agreed to hand over enriched uranium. Iran’s Foreign Ministry says that will not happen under any circumstances.
Betting markets caught the swing. Polymarket odds that Hormuz returns to normal by the end of April hit 64% on Friday morning and fell to 32% after Iran’s Saturday announcement.
Sources
- US Prepares To Board Iran-Linked Ships Globally Following Iranian Gunboat Attack On Tanker In Hormuz
