Attack on vessel in Strait of Hormuz intensifies global energy crisis

New reports have emerged about an attack on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, raising concerns about Iran-linked threats to global energy supply, after Saudi Arabia closed a vital pipeline.

The UKMTO agency, linked to the British Navy, reported receiving information about a projectile impact on a vessel while transiting the strait. The crew was evacuated by local authorities after a fire broke out due to the attack, the agency stated.

The UKMTO report came a day after Saudi Arabia declared it had temporarily closed its East-West pipeline as a precautionary measure following a drone attack that both Baghdad and Riyadh claimed originated in Iraq, where Iran-backed militias operate.

Ongoing attacks in the escalating Middle East war could further drive up energy prices, after a week in which the cost of Brent crude once again surpassed $100 per barrel.

The 1,200 km East-West pipeline, which crosses the Arabian Peninsula, has served as the main outlet for global oil supplies from the Middle East for the past six months, while the Strait of Hormuz has remained largely blocked by the war.

It has been transporting 4 to 5 million barrels per day, equivalent to 4% or 5% of the global supply, sparing Saudi Arabia the biggest impact of the disruption that has crippled other Gulf oil and gas exporters.

There was no immediate attribution of responsibility for the pipeline attacks. Satellite images showed black smoke rising from an area of the pipeline south of Medina. The attack caused some injuries and damage that was being assessed, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated without detailing the impact on exports.

U.S. President Donald Trump, visiting Ireland for a golf tournament at one of his resorts, stated that Iran was likely responsible.

On Saturday, September 12, Saudi Arabia's Civil Defense stated in a communiqué that a projectile fired by the Houthis had injured two people in the Jazan region and damaged several buildings, including a mosque.

Iranian state media reported that an Iranian commercial vessel was hit off its southern coast early Sunday, killing one person and injuring three others, without providing further details.

The Houthi-run Al Masirah channel claimed on Sunday that Saudi Arabia carried out three airstrikes in the al-Rubaie area, in Yemen's southwestern Taiz province. There was no official confirmation from Saudi Arabia. On Saturday 12, the Houthis declared that there had been 129 Saudi airstrikes in the last 48 hours.

Oil prices soared over the past week, and the retail price of diesel in the United States exceeded a record $6 per gallon, as the United States and Iran fired on tankers and the Houthis in Yemen advanced rapidly along the Red Sea, potentially giving Tehran an advantage over the region's two main oil shipping corridors.

Washington now faces the dilemma of whether to help the Saudis fight the Houthis, at the risk of further expanding the war.

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, telephoned Trump on Thursday and requested U.S. military assistance to combat the Houthis, three sources told Reuters. They indicated that the prince was informed that Washington would not intervene directly for the time being, but would collaborate with intelligence efforts.

Trump confirmed on Saturday that he had spoken with the Crown Prince and stated that the Houthis had also telephoned his administration to ask Washington not to get directly involved in the conflict.

Four Yemeni government sources told Reuters that the Houthis had taken the strategic island of Perim on Friday, located in the center of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait —the “Gate of Tears”— at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. The Houthis have been attacking Saudi vessels in the area since declaring a blockade in July and have targeted other Saudi oil facilities.

There have been no talks between the United States and Iran to end the conflict since the June agreement, which collapsed within weeks.

In a post on X on Saturday, Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, stated: "As long as the American side does not accept all of Iran's conditions, dialogue and negotiation are useless."

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday that the country would attend a meeting with Gulf Arab states in Oman on Monday, where the future of the Strait of Hormuz would be discussed.

However, a senior Iranian official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity on Saturday, downplayed the chances of a breakthrough, stating that the meeting, convened at Oman's initiative, aimed to discuss issues including the strait, but was not expected to produce a signed agreement.

An agreement on routes through the strait between Iran and Oman will be presented at Monday's meeting, but the strait will not be reopened unless seven conditions conveyed by Iran to the U.S. are met, a source told Tasnim news agency, without offering further details.

Iran wants its control over the Strait of Hormuz to be recognized, which would allow it to charge fees to ships using it, something Washington rejects. Oman, which controls the opposite shore of the strait, states that it is negotiating with the consent of other states in the region.

Ships had free and open passage through the strait before the war began.