Two oil tankers were struck by unknown projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday night, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) — fresh evidence that the reignited US-Iran conflict is now threatening one of the busiest oil shipping lanes on Earth.

UKMTO said the Saudi-flagged tanker Sidr, part of the fleet of Saudi shipping giant Bahri, was struck roughly 17 nautical miles east of Khasab, Oman. Minutes later, the Senegal Prosperity, operated by South Korea's Sinokor, was hit by three projectiles in nearby waters. No casualties or spills have been reported, and both vessels were able to continue under their own power, but the near-simultaneous strikes rattled shippers already on edge after weeks of tit-for-tat attacks along a waterway that carries roughly a fifth of the world's oil.

What Led Here

The strikes came hours after the United States hit Iranian military positions on Larak Island, a small outpost that sits astride the strait's narrowest shipping channel, in what the Pentagon described as a response to Iran's continued targeting of commercial vessels. President Trump had warned over the weekend that the US would hit back "hard" after Iran struck American-linked positions, and the Larak strike appears to have been that response — one Iran, in turn, appears to be answering with fresh attacks on tanker traffic.

The result is what maritime security analysts have started calling a "dual blockade": Iranian forces harassing tankers they suspect of carrying cargo tied to US allies, while the US Navy simultaneously restricts and inspects traffic it deems a threat, leaving commercial shippers squeezed from both directions. UPI reported that Monday's strikes were the latest in a string of attacks on tanker traffic through the strait since the conflict reignited this summer.

THE STRIKES CAME HOURS AFTER THE US HIT IRANIAN POSITIONS ON LARAK ISLAND

The attacks landed hard on energy markets, which were already jolted Monday by the broader escalation — crude prices spiked past $90 a barrel and the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note climbed to its highest level since January 2025 as investors priced in a longer, costlier Gulf standoff. Airlines and other fuel-dependent industries took the other side of that trade, sliding as energy costs climbed.

Neither Riyadh nor Seoul has publicly assigned blame for Monday's strikes, and Tehran has not claimed them. Western officials have pointed to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, which has carried out similar tanker attacks and seizures earlier this year, as the likely source. The strait remains open to traffic for now, but insurers have begun raising war-risk premiums for vessels transiting the passage, and some shipping lines are weighing whether to reroute around Africa's Cape of Good Hope — a far longer and costlier alternative — if the attacks continue.

With both Washington and Tehran signaling they're prepared to keep trading blows, analysts say the strait, through which roughly 20 million barrels of oil pass every day, is likely to stay the flashpoint to watch in the days ahead.