Blurb: Two oil tankers were set ablaze in Iraqi waters near the port of Basra on Thursday, marking a significant escalation in Iranian attacks on maritime targets.
Tehran
The attacks occurred overnight near the Iraqi port city of Basra, where images verified by Reuters showed two ships engulfed in massive orange fireballs that illuminated the night sky.
The footage, filmed from the shoreline, captured the dramatic blaze as flames spread across the vessels following the strikes.
Iraqi authorities reported that the tankers were attacked by Iranian boats carrying explosives. According to officials, at least one crew member was killed in the assault, while emergency teams worked to control the fires and assess the damage to the ships.
The incidents represent the latest escalation in a growing maritime conflict that has begun to threaten critical shipping routes and oil transport in the region. Just hours before the Basra attack, three other vessels were targeted in the Gulf.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for at least one of those strikes. The group said it had attacked a Thai bulk carrier that was subsequently set on fire after allegedly failing to comply with Iranian orders while sailing in the region.
In another incident, a container ship reported being hit by an unidentified projectile near the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, according to a maritime security authority monitoring shipping activity in the area. Details about the damage or casualties from that attack were not immediately available.
The wave of maritime assaults comes amid an intensifying regional war launched two weeks ago by the United States and Israel against Iran. Despite ongoing hostilities, U.S. President Donald Trump recently claimed that the conflict had already been effectively won, even as attacks continue to spread across key waterways.
Analysts warn that the escalating strikes on commercial shipping are beginning to disrupt energy markets worldwide. The conflict has already killed around 2,000 people and triggered what experts describe as the most severe disruption to global energy supplies since the oil crises of the 1970s.
With several tankers and cargo vessels now under attack across the Gulf region, concerns are growing among governments and energy companies about the security of critical maritime routes that carry a significant portion of the world’s oil exports.
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