{"id":933054,"date":"2026-10-14T19:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T19:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/933054\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T19:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T19:18:15","slug":"two-container-ships-sink-near-strait-of-hormuz-amid-surge-in-iranian-attacks-strait-of-hormuz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/933054\/","title":{"rendered":"Two container ships sink near strait of Hormuz amid surge in Iranian attacks | Strait of Hormuz"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two container ships near the strait of Hormuz have \u2060sunk after being struck by missiles, amid the sharpest rise in Iranian attacks on shipping since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The increase in attacks suggests Iran is trying to fully close the strategic waterway in an attempt to frustrate Donald Trump\u2019s efforts to bring down fuel prices before the US midterm elections on 3 November.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration<\/a> has been attempting to deflect attention from the economic impact of the war on Iran by blaming Ukraine\u2019s attacks on Russian refineries for increased fuel prices.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported at least five incidents including drone strikes in the previous 48 hours targeting tankers and other commercial ships around the Hormuz area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a tempo increase in strikes, which looks deliberate,\u201d one maritime security source said.<\/p>\n

The Singapore-flagged \u200bcontainer \u200cship GFS Pride sank on Wednesday after an attack the previous day. Hours later, the Antigua- and Barbuda-flagged Cape Dao sank close to the strait, having been hit by a \u200bprojectile \u200bon 23 September, according to data from \u200cthe \u200cInternational Maritime Organization.<\/p>\n

Apparently referring to the GFS Pride, Iran said a cargo ship had sunk after hitting a naval mine while making an unauthorised passage through the strait.<\/p>\n

State television quoted a statement from Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that said the ship was travelling on an \u201cillegal and dangerous route\u201d when it hit the mine.<\/p>\n

The ship, which was shown tilted in the water and spewing a thick plume of smoke, was carrying 2,500 containers, the broadcast said.<\/p>\n

Vessels in the strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran. UKMTO reported at least five incidents including drone strikes in the previous 48 hours. Photograph: Razieh Poudat\/Reuters<\/p>\n

However, UKMTO suggested that both ships had been hit by unidentified projectiles, raising questions over Tehran\u2019s account.<\/p>\n

Iran has repeatedly warned ships against trying to transit through the strait without its approval. The US military has been guiding ships through the waterway<\/a> on a route nearer to Oman\u2019s coast.<\/p>\n

Ships in the area were reporting an intense series of attacks in recent days, with six vessels attacked on Sunday alone, according to UKMTO\u2019s monitoring.<\/p>\n

Analysis by the Financial Times said 24 ships were hit in the two weeks to 11 October. Of the vessels hit, three were refined energy product tankers and two others were crude oil tankers.<\/p>\n

The increased tempo of Iranian attacks appears to have caused a dramatic drop-off in oil shipments through the strait, as Tehran appears determined to demonstrate its ability to strike ships before the US midterms that will decide control of Congress.<\/p>\n

US fuel prices have surged by almost 70% since Trump launched his war on Iran, and the Republican party is bracing for punishment at the polls.<\/p>\n

US fuel prices have surged by almost 70% since Donald Trump launched his war on Iran. Photograph: Bizuayehu Tesfaye\/Las Vegas Review-Journal\/AP<\/p>\n

According to two Iranian officials, Iran has recently begun using new tactics against vessels it considers to be in violation of its restrictions. The strategy included a change in the type as well as the pace of attacks, with one goal being \u2060to influence the outcome of the US vote, they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe aim is to frustrate efforts by the United States and its allies to bring down global oil prices,\u201d one of the two officials told Reuters.<\/p>\n

The decision to adopt the new \u200bstrategy had been taken at the highest levels of Iran\u2019s leadership and was fully coordinated across the country\u2019s \u200cruling system, the officials added.<\/p>\n

A US military official, \u200cspeaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Tehran had changed tactics in one significant way. After the US destroyed much of Iran\u2019s radar capabilities, the IRGC had started using unarmed spotters in small boats to \u200cidentify potential targets, including American naval vessels, the official said.<\/p>\n

Last week, in a previously unreported incident, the US military determined that Iranian spotters were operating from a dhow, calling in targets to the IRGC, the official said. US forces confronted the vessel, told its occupants to abandon ship and then destroyed it. There were no casualties, the US official said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two container ships near the strait of Hormuz have \u2060sunk after being struck by missiles, amid the sharpest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":933055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-933054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=933054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/933055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=933054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=933054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=933054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}