A drone hit a gas tanker near the Suez Canal, threatening to escalate the war with Iran
A drone strike on gas tankers in Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta has signaled the possibility of a new US-Iran war, raising the possibility of threats to bypass the Suez Canal, the last safe route for Saudi oil exports.
The Egyptian Cabinet said on Thursday that a preliminary investigation revealed that an unidentified aircraft had set fire to two ships on Wednesday in the port of Damietta, near the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.
No party claimed responsibility, the Cabinet said, adding that authorities were taking measures to protect Egypt’s national security.
Commercial sources with knowledge of the incident said that the plane hit a fuel storage vessel owned by Energos Winter, causing a fire that spread to another vessel.
Overnight, the US military said it attacked Iran’s Revolutionary Guards military facilities and drone facilities after Tehran opened fire on US forces in the region.
Iranian media, citing the Guards, said three civilians were killed and two children were injured in the US strike on Qeshm Island, while three members of the Guards were killed in Zanjan province.
The governor of Khuzestan province, quoted by Iranian state media, said that two student houses in the southwest of the city of Ahvaz were damaged in the night attack.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had raided the US-held Azraq base in Jordan in response to US strikes.
“With God’s help, the perpetrator will be punished today,” said a statement issued by state media.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the damage at the Azraq site.
US bases in Jordan have recently become Iranian targets. The Jordanian military said early Thursday it had intercepted five Iranian missiles.
An Iranian attack also hit a Chinese company building in northern Kuwait, killing an employee and causing extensive damage, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense said.
In the first of the five-month war, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday joined public strikes near the US military, targeting Iran-aligned groups in eastern Iraq, in retaliation for drone attacks on Saudi Arabia targeting oil supplied to Iraq.
After the joint attack, Saudi Arabia’s defense minister met with US Vice President JD Vance in Washington on Wednesday to urge the Trump administration not to escalate the conflict, two sources told Reuters.
Get daily world news
Get daily Canadian news delivered to your inbox so you never miss the top stories of the day.
The war began in February, when the US and Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran that US President Donald Trump said would last only a few weeks. A ceasefire deal in June collapsed amid renewed fighting over the Strait of Hormuz, a key strait Iran now claims it controls.
The latest strikes in Iraq and Egypt threaten to draw more Middle Eastern countries into the conflict after the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen announced a naval blockade last week on Saudi Arabia, threatening an alternative Red Sea route for its oil to Asia.
Ship attacks by Houthi rebels have prompted London’s marine insurance market to expand its “high-risk” Red Sea area to include more of the coast near Saudi Arabian ports.
Trump has said he will hit Iran hard by firing missiles at US forces, but Washington is still seeking a peace deal to end the conflict that has rocked global energy and financial markets.
Oil prices rose more than 8 percent on Wednesday, before falling 1 percent on Thursday in volatile trading, with Brent crude trading just below the US$90 mark.
Iran controls an important waterway for shipping
Iran said on Wednesday it hit three tankers that were trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz through an unauthorized route.
However, a natural gas vessel owned by Qatar-controlled QatarEnergy left overnight, the first such vessel recorded by ship tracking data to have left the waterway since July 11. Iran’s official Fars news agency said Tehran had given permission for the vessel to pass.
Oman presented Iran with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the Strait of Hormuz, including raising voluntary funds to use it, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
Tehran rejected the Omani proposal on Wednesday, but Iran’s official ILNA news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei as saying that talks with Oman on the Strait of Hormuz are ongoing.
After the war exposed gaps in Iran’s ability to protect military sites and strategic infrastructure, Tehran was expected to receive the first shipment of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired missiles within weeks, three sources familiar with the deal told Reuters. Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while China’s Foreign Ministry denied the report.
