US oil tanker ‘hit by Iran and on fire’ in Gulf in new escalation of Middle East war

Drones have been targeting oil tankers sailing through the strait of Hormuz (Picture: REUTERS)

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards hit a US tanker in the Gulf this morning leaving it in flames, state media have claimed.

The IRGC the vessel is ‘currently burning’, according to Tasnim News Agency.

The Guards warned that Iran would ‘have control over the passage through the Strait of Hormuz’ in times of war.

Iran has effectively closed the strait since the outbreak of war with the US and Israel.

Sparks from a missile interception on March 4, 2026 in Tel Aviv, Israel (Picture: Erik Marmor/Getty Images)

Maritime traffic through the strait of Hormuz has dropped dramatically (Picture: Gallo Images)

Tankers collecting from various ports on the Persian Gulf must go through Hormuz, a 60-mile-wide part of the Persian Gulf which has been at the heart of regional tensions for decades.

About a fifth of the world’s oil is transited through the shipping lane, which splits Iran on one side and Oman and the UAE on the other, and links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea in the Indian Ocean.

Concerns have been raised about just disruptions to the flow of Gulf oil shipments to Europe, the US and Asia after Iran said it was ‘closing’ the shipping lane

A number of oil tankers have been hit by drones and maritime traffic through the region has come almost to a complete halt.

A Maltese-flagged container ship was struck by a projectile yesterday while travelling through the Strait of Hormuz.

The crew of Safeen Prestige was forced to abandon ship, shipping sources said, after being hit about two nautical miles north of Oman.

Israel and Iran launch new strikes

Vehicles drive along an expressway against the backdrop of smoke rising after a strike on the Iranian capital of Tehran (Picture: ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)

Israel and Iran launched fresh rounds of suicide drones and missiles at each other as the conflict in the Middle East entered its sixth day.

The IDF said they hit a missile launcher in Qom and an ‘aerial defence system’ in Isfahan.

Air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as missiles were sent back in retaliation.

Iran also targeted hundreds of Kurdish fighters who have begun a ground offensive inside Iran from the Iraqi border, the Jerusalem Post reports.

The groups involved are reportedly Iranian Kurdish militias that maintain thousands of fighters and operate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq along the frontier with Iran.

Italy also announced they were planning to send air defense systems to Gulf allies, while Canada’s PM Mark Carney did not rule out participation in war.

A man stands near a damaged building after Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs (Picture: REUTERS)

Donald Trump was also handed a blank slate to continue military action in Iran after US lawmakers rejected a measure that would have limited the President’s war powers.

Republican senators rejected the resolution that would have required the Trump administration to seek congressional approval before continuing military strikes in Iran.

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