Iran signals Hormuz leverage as tanker attacks raise global alarm

Three tankers were hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, including a Qatari LNG tanker and a Saudi crude tanker, during a string of incidents on July 7 and July 8. The attacks landed in one of the world’s most fragile energy corridors, where about 20 million barrels a day of oil moved in 2024, roughly 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption. The same strait carries about 20% of global LNG trade, much of it from Qatar.

The Strait of Hormuz also handles roughly 27% of the world’s maritime trade in crude oil and petroleum products, giving even a short disruption outsized reach in energy markets. Only limited pipeline capacity exists to reroute oil away from the strait, leaving traders with little room to absorb a sustained shock.

Iran has used this kind of pressure before. The Tanker War, the maritime phase of the Iran-Iraq War from 1984 to 1988, centered on attacks on merchant shipping and oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. That phase helped prompt U.S. intervention in 1987 and direct U.S.-Iran confrontation, after mines and strikes turned the sea lanes into a wider battlefield.

Analysts said Tehran is using attacks on ships to emphasize its leverage in negotiations with Washington over a long-term peace deal. Analysts described control of the strait as a “golden weapon,” a reminder that Iran can threaten the energy arteries of rivals without matching them ship for ship or missile for missile. The U.S. military responded with strikes on Iran, and the United States revoked a license allowing the country to sell oil, while U.S. Central Command's strikes hit more than 80 targets.

Brent crude jumped after the tanker attack, and the shock spread beyond oil traders to insurers, shipping companies, and Gulf governments that rely on uninterrupted passage through Hormuz. The Defense Department accused Iran of “targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway,” calling the attacks unwarranted and dangerous.