In this screengrab from a handout video released March 12, 2026, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, flames appear to burn from the burning ship after Iranian explosive-laden boats attacked two fuel tankers in Iraqi waters and set them on fire, according to port, maritime security and risk firms.
Iraqi Ports Media Office reuters
Three more foreign ships were attacked overnight in the Persian Gulf, officials said, as attacks on ships transiting through or near the strategically important Strait of Hormuz intensified.
The latest incidents come after three separate ships were damaged in Gulf waters on Wednesday and Iran warned that oil prices could reach $200 a barrel.
A container ship was hit by an unidentified projectile about 35 nautical miles north of Jebel Ali, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, or UKMTO, centre, a major port city near Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Said On Thursday. The incident caused a small fire on board the ship and all crew were reported safe.
Earlier, two foreign oil tankers were burned in Iraqi waters after being attacked near the port of Umm Qasr, near the city of Basra.
At least one person died in the attack, according to several media reportsCiting Iraqi port officials, a further 38 crew members were rescued from the ships. Iraq’s General Company for Ports was not immediately available to comment when contacted by CNBC.
A foreign tanker carrying Iraqi fuel oil is damaged after it caught fire in Iraq’s territorial waters, following unidentified attacks targeting two foreign tankers, near Basra, Iraq, March 12, 2026, according to Iraqi port officials.
Mohammed Ati reuters
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has come to a near halt since the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on February 28. Iran has retaliated by targeting ships trying to pass through the strait, with several incidents reported in recent days.
The narrow waterway is a major sea corridor that connects the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. About 20% of global oil and gas typically passes through it.
Attacks on commercial shipping in the Gulf have raised fears of a longer-term economic shock.
“Get ready for oil to hit $200 a barrel, because the price of oil depends on regional security, which you have destabilized,” Ebrahim Zolfakari, a spokesman for Iran’s military command, said on Wednesday. According to Reuters.
‘A weapon to put pressure on the enemy’
Oil prices rose sharply on Thursday soon after Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Should remain closed as a “tool for exerting pressure on the enemy”. Mojtaba is the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by the US and Israel in early strikes of the war.
In his first public statement after being appointed, Mojtaba Khamenei also said that all US military bases in the Middle East should be closed immediately because those bases would be attacked.
international benchmark brent crude futures May deliveries traded 8% higher at $99.35 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate Futures April delivery rose 8.2% to $94.52.
The IEA said on Wednesday its 32 member countries would release 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves, the largest coordinated drawdown since the agency was created following the 1973 oil embargo.
— CNBC’s Li Ying Shan contributed to this report.