Iran Launches Massive Attack on Global Shipping
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
Original Source
Iran claimed Wednesday to have conducted its largest known wave of attacks on shipping since the start of the Iran war, targeting ten vessels near the Strait of Hormuz and launching ballistic missiles at a U.S. military base in Jordan. The assaults sent crude oil prices to record highs and signaled the collapse of efforts to gradually reopen the strategic waterway.
Iran Targets 10 Ships in Strait of Hormuz in Massive Attack on Global Shipping
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Iran Launches Massive Attack on Global Shipping
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Iran Launches Massive Attack on Global Shipping
Such assaults put the Strait of Hormuz under growing pressure as global crude prices skyrocket.
!An illustration of Alexandra Sharp, World Brief newsletter writer
*An illustration of Alexandra Sharp, World Brief newsletter writer*
*Alexandra Sharp*
By **Alexandra Sharp**, the World Brief writer at *Foreign Policy*.
!A vessels transits the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran. Another vessel is seen in the distance behind it.
*A vessels transits the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran. Another vessel is seen in the distance behind it.*
Vessels transit the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran, on Sept. 7. Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images
*
*
September 9, 2026, 5:19 PM
Iran War
Analysis and news.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a massive **Iranian** attack on global shipping, **Israel** punishing the **United Kingdom** over its trade restrictions, and **Europe**’s fractured space strategy.
---
Hormuz Under Fire
Tehran claimed on Wednesday to have carried out its largest known wave of attacks on shipping since the start of the Iran war. Such assaults put the Strait of Hormuz under growing pressure, skyrocketing global crude prices and suggesting that recent efforts to gradually reopen the strategic waterway are at an impasse.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a massive **Iranian** attack on global shipping, **Israel** punishing the **United Kingdom** over its trade restrictions, and **Europe**’s fractured space strategy.
Sign up to receive World Brief in your inbox every weekday.
---
Hormuz Under Fire
Tehran claimed on Wednesday to have carried out its largest known wave of attacks on shipping since the start of the Iran war. Such assaults put the Strait of Hormuz under growing pressure, skyrocketing global crude prices and suggesting that recent efforts to gradually reopen the strategic waterway are at an impasse.
On Tuesday, U.S. Central Command (Centcom) claimed to have destroyed five Iranian oil carriers in the Gulf of Oman and near Iran’s Kharg Island, the latter of which hosts Tehran’s main oil export terminal. “Iran has used the tankers as part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC \[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and its regional proxies,” Centcom said in a statement.
The United States said that Tuesday’s strikes were retaliation for two failed IRGC ballistic missile attacks on a U.S. Navy warship. “Iran continues to try to hit U.S. naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.
In response, Iran said that it had attacked 10 ships—two U.S. ships and eight oil vessels—near the Strait of Hormuz as well as fired ballistic missiles at a military base used by U.S. forces in Jordan. At least one individual on the Gibraltar-flagged *Hercules Star* was killed, and several other ships reported fires onboard.
U.S. officials told the *Wall Street Journal* that Iran has launched ballistic missiles at U.S. Navy destroyers, an aircraft carrier, and at least one Marine ship since Friday—marking a dramatic escalation in attacks on maritime vessels. Yet Centcom claimed on Wednesday that all of Iran’s recent attacks failed to hit U.S. military vessels. Jordan has similarly stressed that nearly all missiles fired at its military base this week were intercepted.
However, such statements have done little to ease global market concerns. The price of Brent crude briefly hit $100 per barrel on Wednesday for the first time since July, and the price of West Texas Intermediate crude is up 41 percent since the start of the Iran war. Diesel costs have also soared and are now nearing $6 per gallon—more than 55 percent higher than on the eve of the conflict.
U.S. President Donald Trump argued on Monday that the oil market will get better. “Oil prices will drop precipitously, like everything else is dropping (but more!), when we WIN the war with Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, claiming that a gallon of gas will ultimately drop below $2. Yet crude prices continue to reach record highs even as the White House maintains that the Iranian navy and air force have already been destroyed and that the U.S. military has control of the Strait of Hormuz.
---
Today’s Most Read
* **The World’s Only Real Hope of Maintaining Order***by Charles A. Kupchan*
* **Iran’s Regional Strategy Is Never Coming Back***by Ali Hashem*
* **25 Years After 9/11, What Are We Failing to Imagine Now?***by Colin P. Clarke and Clara Broekaert*
---
What We’re Following
**30 days to leave.** Israel on Wednesday gave the United Kingdom 30 days to close its consulate in East Jerusalem in retaliation for London announcing its intention to impose sweeping trade restrictions on Israel, including a ban on all Israeli goods produced in the occupied West Bank. Israel also barred 12 British politicians from entering the country, told British officials in the West Bank and at a Gaza coordination center to leave, and prohibited the United Kingdom from continuing to train the Palestinian Authority’s security forces in the West Bank.
“The British move is morally distorted and constitutes blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said, referring to upcoming Israeli el
!Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
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!China Brief Icon
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FP Weekend
A curation of our best book reviews, deep dives, and other reads
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Africa Brief
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!South Asia Brief Icon
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Weekly update on developments in India and its neighbors
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A monthly guide to FP’s book reviews, excerpts, and reading recommendations
!Latin America Brief Icon
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World Brief:
Iran Launches Massive Attack on Global Shipping
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World Brief
FP’s flagship daily newsletter, catching you up on 24 hours of news in five minutes. Delivered weekdays.
Iran Launches Massive Attack on Global Shipping
Such assaults put the Strait of Hormuz under growing pressure as global crude prices skyrocket.
!An illustration of Alexandra Sharp, World Brief newsletter writer
*An illustration of Alexandra Sharp, World Brief newsletter writer*
*Alexandra Sharp*
By **Alexandra Sharp**, the World Brief writer at *Foreign Policy*.
!A vessels transits the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran. Another vessel is seen in the distance behind it.
*A vessels transits the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran. Another vessel is seen in the distance behind it.*
Vessels transit the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran, on Sept. 7. Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images
*
*
September 9, 2026, 5:19 PM
Iran War
Analysis and news.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a massive **Iranian** attack on global shipping, **Israel** punishing the **United Kingdom** over its trade restrictions, and **Europe**’s fractured space strategy.
---
Hormuz Under Fire
Tehran claimed on Wednesday to have carried out its largest known wave of attacks on shipping since the start of the Iran war. Such assaults put the Strait of Hormuz under growing pressure, skyrocketing global crude prices and suggesting that recent efforts to gradually reopen the strategic waterway are at an impasse.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a massive **Iranian** attack on global shipping, **Israel** punishing the **United Kingdom** over its trade restrictions, and **Europe**’s fractured space strategy.
Sign up to receive World Brief in your inbox every weekday.
---
Hormuz Under Fire
Tehran claimed on Wednesday to have carried out its largest known wave of attacks on shipping since the start of the Iran war. Such assaults put the Strait of Hormuz under growing pressure, skyrocketing global crude prices and suggesting that recent efforts to gradually reopen the strategic waterway are at an impasse.
On Tuesday, U.S. Central Command (Centcom) claimed to have destroyed five Iranian oil carriers in the Gulf of Oman and near Iran’s Kharg Island, the latter of which hosts Tehran’s main oil export terminal. “Iran has used the tankers as part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC \[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and its regional proxies,” Centcom said in a statement.
The United States said that Tuesday’s strikes were retaliation for two failed IRGC ballistic missile attacks on a U.S. Navy warship. “Iran continues to try to hit U.S. naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.
In response, Iran said that it had attacked 10 ships—two U.S. ships and eight oil vessels—near the Strait of Hormuz as well as fired ballistic missiles at a military base used by U.S. forces in Jordan. At least one individual on the Gibraltar-flagged *Hercules Star* was killed, and several other ships reported fires onboard.
U.S. officials told the *Wall Street Journal* that Iran has launched ballistic missiles at U.S. Navy destroyers, an aircraft carrier, and at least one Marine ship since Friday—marking a dramatic escalation in attacks on maritime vessels. Yet Centcom claimed on Wednesday that all of Iran’s recent attacks failed to hit U.S. military vessels. Jordan has similarly stressed that nearly all missiles fired at its military base this week were intercepted.
However, such statements have done little to ease global market concerns. The price of Brent crude briefly hit $100 per barrel on Wednesday for the first time since July, and the price of West Texas Intermediate crude is up 41 percent since the start of the Iran war. Diesel costs have also soared and are now nearing $6 per gallon—more than 55 percent higher than on the eve of the conflict.
U.S. President Donald Trump argued on Monday that the oil market will get better. “Oil prices will drop precipitously, like everything else is dropping (but more!), when we WIN the war with Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, claiming that a gallon of gas will ultimately drop below $2. Yet crude prices continue to reach record highs even as the White House maintains that the Iranian navy and air force have already been destroyed and that the U.S. military has control of the Strait of Hormuz.
---
Today’s Most Read
* **The World’s Only Real Hope of Maintaining Order***by Charles A. Kupchan*
* **Iran’s Regional Strategy Is Never Coming Back***by Ali Hashem*
* **25 Years After 9/11, What Are We Failing to Imagine Now?***by Colin P. Clarke and Clara Broekaert*
---
What We’re Following
**30 days to leave.** Israel on Wednesday gave the United Kingdom 30 days to close its consulate in East Jerusalem in retaliation for London announcing its intention to impose sweeping trade restrictions on Israel, including a ban on all Israeli goods produced in the occupied West Bank. Israel also barred 12 British politicians from entering the country, told British officials in the West Bank and at a Gaza coordination center to leave, and prohibited the United Kingdom from continuing to train the Palestinian Authority’s security forces in the West Bank.
“The British move is morally distorted and constitutes blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said, referring to upcoming Israeli el
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Source: Foreign Policy
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