A U.S. military fighter jet disabled the Panama-flagged cargo vessel M/V Ocean Molica, also known as the Arika Sun, after it departed an Iranian port and tried to cross regional waters, U.S. Central Command said. The attack struck the ship’s stern in the Gulf of Oman, knocking out its propulsion. CENTCOM said the crew wasn’t harmed. The Hill described the vessel as trying to bypass the U.S. naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, while Reuters said it tried to run a blockade against Iran.
The Blockade’s Reach
CENTCOM said its forces issued repeated warnings before the strike. It released video of the attack and urged mariners to heed blockade warnings, monitor notice-to-mariners broadcasts and contact U.S. naval forces in the Gulf of Oman and approaches to the Strait of Hormuz.
Since the blockade resumed on July 14, U.S. forces have disabled four shipping vessels and turned around 135 ships, CENTCOM said. The command also said U.S. forces destroyed 10 tankers “linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ multibillion-dollar shadow network over the same period.” Reuters said it couldn’t immediately reach the bulk carrier’s operator for comment.
The White House framed U.S. control of the strait as leverage over Iran’s economy. A White House official told The Hill that the United States “is in a very strong position with control of the Strait of Hormuz and the Iranian economy collapsing.” The Hill reported that the Trump administration continued its economic pressure campaign and naval blockade in the Arabian Sea.
Oil, Shipping and Costs
A major share of global oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil is exported through the strait, The Hill reported; Reuters said it carried 20% of the world’s oil consumption before the war. Vessel traffic fell to its lowest level in more than two months after tanker attacks hit their highest level last week since the United States and Israel launched the war on Iran in February, Reuters reported. The decline raised concerns about shipping disruptions and supported crude prices, Reuters said.
The U.S. national average for regular gasoline reached $4.36 per gallon on Sunday morning, according to AAA. The source reported the price alongside shipping disruptions and higher crude prices, but didn’t say how the increase affected individual households or businesses.
Threats and Military Pressure
In a separate incident on Saturday, a supertanker struck a mine while passing through the strait, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy’s press office said, according to the state-run Fars News Agency. Iranian officials warned that if the conflict continued, “not even one drop of oil will be exported” from the strait or elsewhere in the Persian Gulf. The IRGC warned: “A massive fire awaits any violating oil tanker that seeks to disregard the security and regulations of the Strait of Hormuz.”
The conflict had entered its eighth month, The Hill reported, and President Trump was weighing options for resuming strikes. Trump said Thursday that discussions with Iran had been “productive” and that he wouldn’t attack the regime before the November midterm elections. The USS Theodore Roosevelt, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, was sailing toward the Middle East to relieve the USS George Washington.