The UAE said Iranian cruise missiles hit two national tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, killing one Indian crew member and wounding eight others. Donald Trump then said the US was reinstating a naval blockade of Iranian ports and would impose a 20% charge on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.
Four of the wounded were seriously injured, and the UAE Ministry of Defence said six of the injured were Indian and two were Ukrainian. Trump said the blockade would take effect at 16:00 Eastern Time on Tuesday, while the US launched strikes for the third consecutive night.
UAE Ministry of Defence statement
The UAE Ministry of Defence said the attack was a serious violation and a clear breach of international law, threatening the security and stability of the region. That language leaves the UAE line fixed on the attack itself: two tankers in a waterway used for Asian trade, one dead, eight wounded, and a route that remains central to shipping even as oil prices moved sharply higher.
Brent crude rose 0.7% to $83.87 a barrel in Asian trade on Tuesday, and US-traded oil rose 0.9% to $79.04. Brent had already risen more than 9% on Monday as the conflict escalated, a move that puts the shipping route at the center of immediate cost pressure for cargo moving through the Strait of Hormuz.
IRGC claim on Telegram
The IRGC gave a different account on Telegram, saying the two tankers ignored warnings, turned off navigation systems and tried to pass through a mined route. The IRGC said it hit the tankers and disabled them. That leaves the attack in dispute on method and intent, but not on the outcome described by the UAE: a fatality, eight injuries, and two damaged vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump reinforced the pressure campaign in a Truth Social post, calling himself “ OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT” and saying “all other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait.” He also wrote that “Iran's ships or customers” would be “reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World,” then told reporters at the White House that the US was “hitting them very hard.”
Strait of Hormuz pressure
The practical issue now is enforcement. A naval blockade and a 20% cargo charge would both depend on control of movement through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage the UAE says was used to hit the tankers. For shipping companies, the immediate decision is whether to move cargo through a corridor now under attack claims, counterclaims, and a fresh US deadline that starts at 16:00 Eastern Time on Tuesday.
