{"id":418628,"date":"2026-05-08T22:55:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T22:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/418628\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T22:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T22:55:13","slug":"us-fires-on-more-iranian-tankers-in-strait-of-hormuz-as-tensions-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/418628\/","title":{"rendered":"US fires on more Iranian tankers in Strait of Hormuz as tensions rise"},"content":{"rendered":"

US forces fired on and disabled two Iranian oil tankers after exchanging fire with Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz overnight. <\/p>\n

The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, reported another Iranian missile and drone attack.<\/p>\n

The attacks cast more doubt on a tenuous month-old ceasefire that the United States has insisted is still in effect. Washington is awaiting an Iranian response to its latest proposal for a deal to end the war, reopen the Strait<\/a> and roll back Tehran\u2019s disputed nuclear program.<\/p>\n

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio<\/a> said he hopes to receive \u201ca serious offer\u201d from Iran later Friday (local time).<\/p>\n

\"Crew<\/p>\n

Crew with a fighter jet on a US Navy aircraft carrier. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

The US military said that its forces had disabled two Iranian tankers that were trying to breach an American blockade of Iran\u2019s ports. Hours earlier, the military said it thwarted attacks on three Navy ships<\/a> and struck Iranian military facilities in the Strait.<\/p>\n

Iran has mostly blocked the critical waterway for global energy since the US and Israel launched the war on February 28, causing a global spike in fuel prices and rattling world markets. The US has imposed its own blockade of Iran’s ports.<\/p>\n

The UAE\u2019s Defence Ministry, meanwhile, said three people were wounded after air defences engaged two ballistic missiles and three drones launched by Iran. It was not clear if all were successfully intercepted.<\/p>\n

US says it responded to an attack in the strait<\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

One of the Iranian tankers after being fired at by US forces in the Strait of Hormuz on May 9. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

The US military posted video of the two Iranian tankers as their smokestacks were struck by an American fighter jet on Friday. Earlier in the week, an American military jet shot out the rudder of a tanker<\/a> the US military said was attempting to breach its blockade.<\/p>\n

Late Thursday, the US military said it thwarted Iranian attacks on three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz and struck Iranian military facilities in response. It said no American ships were hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey threaten Americans, they are going to be blown up,\u201d Rubio told reporters Friday.<\/p>\n

Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned what it called \u201chostile\u201d US military action, saying it violated the ceasefire. \u201cEvery time a diplomatic solution is on the table, the US opts for a reckless military adventure,\u201d Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X.<\/p>\n

A US strike overnight killed at least one sailor and injured 10 others aboard a cargo vessel that caught fire, a news agency affiliated with Iran’s judiciary reported. It was not clear if the ship was one of the two tankers the US acknowledged striking.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump has insisted the ceasefire is holding. He also has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran doesn\u2019t accept an agreement to reopen the Strait and roll back its nuclear program.<\/p>\n

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country has been in contact with the U.S. and Iran \u201cday and night\u201d in an effort to extend the ceasefire and reach a peace deal.<\/p>\n

Images show apparent oil slick off Iranian terminal<\/p>\n

Satellite images reviewed by The Associated Press show what appears to be an oil slick in the Persian Gulf emanating from the western side of Kharg Island, Iran\u2019s main crude export terminal.<\/p>\n

The images taken on Wednesday (local time) show the slick covering roughly 95 square kilometres. Windward AI, a maritime intelligence firm, said it first detected the spill in satellite images taken Tuesday, and the slick was spreading southwestward at about 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) per hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the slick continues drifting southward, there could also be risks to ecologically sensitive and protected marine areas in the Gulf,\u201d said Nina Noelle, an international crisis operations expert with Greenpeace Germany.<\/p>\n

The Pentagon declined to comment on whether the US military was tracking the spill or whether there had been recent strikes on the Iranian island. Based on the imagery taken earlier this week, the spill occurred before the most recent round of US strikes.<\/p>\n

Rubio says ‘unacceptable’ for an Iranian agency to control the Strait<\/p>\n

\"Secretary<\/p>\n

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Rubio said Friday that it’s \u201cunacceptable\u201d for Iran to have a government agency that vets and taxes ships seeking passage<\/a> through the Strait.<\/p>\n

Lloyd\u2019s List Intelligence, a shipping data company, reported Thursday that Iran has created such an agency, known as the Persian Gulf Strait Authority.<\/p>\n

The Iranian effort to formalise control over the channel raised new concerns about international shipping, with hundreds of commercial vessels bottled up in the Persian Gulf and unable to reach the open sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs the world going to accept that Iran now controls an international waterway?\u201d Rubio said. \u201cWhat is the world prepared to do about it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran has effectively closed the Strait, a vital waterway for the shipment of oil, gas, fertiliser, and other petroleum products, while the US is blockading Iranian ports.<\/p>\n

A Chinese-crewed oil tanker was attacked near the Strait. China has continued to import oil from Iran despite the effective closure of the waterway.<\/p>\n

China’s Foreign Ministry expressed concern, saying the tanker was registered in the Marshall Islands with Chinese crew on board. There were no casualties reported.<\/p>\n

An oil tanker that passed through the Strait of Hormuz in mid-April arrived off South Korea\u2019s coast on Friday with 1 million barrels of crude. South Korea, which last year imported more than 60% of its crude through the Strait, has capped prices of gasoline and other petroleum products.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US forces fired on and disabled two Iranian oil tankers after exchanging fire with Iranian forces in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,5107,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-418628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}