Iran War Tensions Push Strait of Hormuz Shipping Attacks to Monthly Record
Militaries traded fire at sea and ashore on 24 October as a Washington-based tracker recorded the worst month yet for commercial vessels in Hormuz waters.
By Natalia Costa ·
Tensions across the Gulf entered a new phase on 24 October as military exchanges at sea and in the sky coincided with a record-setting month for shipping attacks near the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi-led coalition forces said they shot down a ballistic missile and a drone aimed at Saudi Arabia, while Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps navy reported two supertankers struck mines on an unauthorised route south of the strait. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations separately logged a projectile strike on a tanker seven nautical miles off Oman's coast.
A Washington-based think tank that has tracked maritime security incidents since 2017 counts October as the worst month on record for assaults on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters. Saudi Arabia's Directorate of Civil Defence issued a warning to residents, then reported the danger had passed in Riyadh, Najran and Wadi al-Dawasir.
Statements from both sides hardened on the same day. At a rally in Florida, US President Donald Trump said Washington might conduct another military operation against Iran. Major General Abdollahi, Iran's armed forces chief of staff, answered that 'under no circumstances will we allow rusting US warships to re-enter the Persian Gulf'. Mohammed Mokhber, an adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said war threats and 'psychological warfare' from Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'betray desperation rather than power'.
Diplomatic moves continued alongside the military exchanges. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian travels to Moscow next week for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit on 27 October. In London, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Britain is 'redoubling' efforts toward a diplomatic settlement, adding that the conflict is 'driving up bills for families in Britain'.
Israeli forces made Palestinian residents of Hebron leave their homes on foot on 24 October and demolished buildings near the site where two Israeli soldiers were shot dead, with troops detaining dozens during raids across the West Bank. In southern Syria, Friday rallies protested Israeli incursions that killed a man with a disability earlier in the week. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the moment had arrived to reunify Libya's rival eastern and western administrations.
Netanyahu told Israelis to ready themselves for international banking sanctions and pointed to cryptocurrency as a workaround, four days before the Knesset election.
