Iran Puts Global Shipping on Notice: Any Vessel With US Ties Is a Target

Iran dramatically escalated its maritime threats on Saturday, with military commanders warning that any oil, economic, or energy facility in the Gulf region with American ties was a legitimate target. The threat extended implicitly to shipping, raising the spectre of attacks on vessels connected to American companies or sailing under American-affiliated flags. The warning came as Iran launched ballistic missiles at the UAE’s Fujairah emirate, a critical global ship-refuelling hub, and continued its campaign to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed to international traffic.
The Strait of Hormuz had been blocked by Iran since the war began on February 28, cutting off a passage through which roughly 20 percent of global oil and gas flows daily. Its closure had pushed energy prices toward $120 per barrel, with analysts warning prices could reach $150 if further damage was done to Iran’s Kharg Island facility or Gulf energy infrastructure. President Trump had called on China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the UK to send warships to the region, in what analysts described as the first public admission that the US might need international support to reopen the waterway.
US warplanes struck Kharg Island for the second consecutive day on Saturday. Trump said in public remarks the island had been effectively demolished and left open the possibility of additional strikes. He simultaneously threatened to authorise attacks on Iran’s remaining oil infrastructure if Tehran did not allow ships to pass. The USS Tripoli and 2,500 additional US marines were heading to the Gulf, reinforcing American military options without specifying what mission they would ultimately carry out.
Israel conducted dozens of airstrikes inside Iran on Saturday, targeting missile systems and security forces. At least 15 people were killed in an airstrike on an Isfahan factory. Iran fired rockets at Israel in return. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth described Iran’s leadership as “desperate and hiding” underground, claiming the newly installed supreme leader had been wounded in an earlier Israeli strike. Iranian officials acknowledged the injury but insisted it was not serious. Analysts said the regime remained operational and was executing a deliberate strategy of sustained conflict.
The human and economic toll of the war was growing rapidly. More than 1,400 Iranians had been killed under relentless bombing. Thirteen Israelis and roughly 20 Gulf residents had also died. Lebanon’s crisis deepened, with 800 killed and 850,000 displaced from Israeli operations against Hezbollah. The US embassy in Baghdad was struck overnight, and Americans in Iraq were ordered to leave. Six US service members died in a military aircraft crash in western Iraq. The threat to global shipping and energy infrastructure made the conflict’s economic stakes as high as its military ones.