{"id":555851,"date":"2026-07-23T14:53:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T14:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/555851\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T14:53:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T14:53:17","slug":"live-updates-oil-tops-100-a-barrel-as-red-sea-attacks-mark-new-escalation-in-iran-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/555851\/","title":{"rendered":"Live updates: Oil tops $100 a barrel as Red Sea attacks mark new escalation in Iran conflict"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"This<\/p>\n

\n Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthis claimed early Thursday to have struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, in what appears to be the group\u2019s first enforcement action of its recent threat to blockade Saudi ships.\n <\/p>\n

\n Here\u2019s what we know about the tankers:\n <\/p>\n

\n The Houthis, one of Iran\u2019s principal allies in the region, identified the vessels as the Encelia<\/a> and Layla. Both are Saudi-flagged, according to maritime tracking agency MarineTraffic.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Layla (identified by its unique International Maritime Organization number 9336098) is listed as a laden crude oil tanker, while the Encelia (IMO 9240172) is identified as a laden oil products tanker, MarineTraffic said.\n <\/p>\n

\n The vessels were struck in separate attacks approximately 70 nautical miles (around 80 miles) off the Saudi coast, maritime risk consultancy Marisks said Thursday. The Encelia sustained damage after being hit by a projectile, Marisks said, while the Layla was also \u201ctargeted.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Satellite imagery from NASA appears to show the Encelia on fire in the Red Sea.\n <\/p>\n

\"Satellite<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThese incidents represent the first apparent implementation of the Houthis\u2019 recently announced maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia,\u201d Marisk said.\n <\/p>\n

\n There is a risk the Houthis \u201cmay broaden their interpretation of \u2018Saudi-linked shipping\u2019 to include foreign-flagged vessels trading with Saudi ports, carrying Saudi cargoes or operating under Saudi commercial interests,\u201d Marisk added.\n <\/p>\n

\n The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said a tanker had been struck 70 nautical miles (around 80 miles) southwest of the Saudi Arabian town of Al Shuqaiq, but it did not provide the vessel\u2019s name.\n <\/p>\n

\n Meanwhile, Saudi Press Agency said the Encelia was \u201ctargeted while sailing in the Red Sea,\u201d causing \u201ca fire on the vessel\u2019s bow,\u201d citing an unnamed official at the General Transport Authority. In its report, it did not comment on the Layla.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN\u2019s Eleni Giokos contributed reporting.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthis claimed early Thursday to have struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555852,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-555851","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\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}