‘Biggest oil crisis in history’ as Iran launches suicide boat strikes sending prices soaring after Trump’s ‘we won’ claim
The US is facing the largest oil crisis in modern history as Iran continues launching explosive suicide boats at fuel tankers in the Middle East, despite Donald Trump claiming the war has already been ‘won.’
Explosive Iranian boats appear to have struck two fuel tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, setting them ablaze and killing one crew member on Wednesday. Four other vessels in the Gulf waters were also reportedly hit by Iranian projectiles.
The vessels targeted in Wednesday’s late-night attacks in the Gulf near Iraq were the Marshall Islands-flagged Safesea Vishnu and the Malta-flagged Zefyros.
The latest attacks on ships linked to the U.S. and Europe mark an escalation in the conflict between Iran and US and Israeli forces, raising the number of ships struck in the region since fighting began to at least 16.
Shipping in the Gulf and along the narrow Strait of Hormuz, which carries around a fifth of the world’s oil, has come to a near-standstill. Gas prices have rocketed to an average of $3.6 per gallon from $2.9 before the war began, as oil prices hit levels not seen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Oil prices have also risen to nearly $91 a barrel as of Thursday morning.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have said that if attacks on Iran continued, they would not allow ‘one litre of oil’ to be shipped from the Middle East to the US, Israel or their partners.
Trump said yesterday during a rally speech in Kentucky that the US had already won the war with Iran. As nonstop bombings in the Middle East have caused energy prices to soar around the globe, the President insisted that the conflict was already over.
‘It’s only good if you win,’ Trump told his supporter: ‘And we’ve won.’
Iran claimed it attacked the shipping vessel off Iraq and released a video purports to show the moment the ship was attacked.
The footage appears to show explosions striking the Safesea Vishnu, as a man can be heard shouting in Farsi: ‘Allah is the greatest!’
