The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday that two of its oil tankers were struck by Iranian cruise missiles while transiting the southern lane of the Strait of Hormuz within Omani territorial waters, killing one Indian crew member and wounding eight others. The UAE Ministry of Defence identified the vessels as the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah, stating that the attack caused fires on board and material damage. India’s Ministry of External Affairs summoned the Iranian deputy chief of mission in New Delhi to lodge a strong protest, noting that 30 Indian nationals were among the combined crew of 46, and calling for an immediate cessation of violence.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed it had hit and disabled two “offending” supertankers, asserting that the vessels had ignored repeated warnings, switched off navigation systems, and attempted to transit a route it described as mined. The IRGC accused the United States of inciting ships to use what it called an illegal passage, warning that cooperation with the “aggressor enemy” would only delay the strait’s reopening and trigger a global energy crisis. The UAE condemned the strike as a flagrant violation of international law and said it reserved the right to respond to protect its sovereignty and national interests.

The incident unfolded against the backdrop of renewed US military action. President Donald Trump announced the reinstatement of a naval blockade on Iranian ports and proposed charging a fee equivalent to 20 per cent of cargo value for vessels using the waterway, describing the US as the strait’s guardian. The US Central Command said it had conducted a third consecutive night of strikes on Iranian coastal defence and missile infrastructure to degrade Tehran’s ability to target commercial shipping. These moves followed the collapse of an interim US-Iranian agreement signed in June that had temporarily reopened the strait and halted hostilities.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments passed before the conflict began in February, remains a central point of contention. Viewed from Gulf capitals, the targeting of UAE-flagged tankers in Omani waters signals a widening of the maritime insecurity that has already severely disrupted energy exports. In European and Asian energy markets, the renewed instability pushed Brent crude prices up by nearly 2 per cent. With no active diplomatic track and both Washington and Tehran issuing maximalist statements, the prospects for a return to the negotiating table remain uncertain.