Iran Strikes Two Oil Tankers Inside Iraqi Waters, Killing at Least One

Two oil tankers are burning in the Persian Gulf after an Iranian attack inside Iraqi territorial waters. At least one person is dead. Thirty-eight crew members were rescued by Iraq’s ports authority after the vessels were struck on Wednesday near the al-Faw port outside Basra.

Iran claimed responsibility through state broadcaster IRIB, describing the attack as an underwater drone strike that blew up two tankers in the Persian Gulf. An Iraqi-led investigation cited by Reuters pointed to explosive-laden Iranian boats as the likely attack method. Both accounts are consistent with the damage pattern visible in footage verified by CNN, which shows flames spreading across the surrounding water, indicating oil leaking from both hulls.

The Vessels

The two targeted tankers were the Maltese-flagged Zefyros and the Marshallese-flagged Safesea Vishnu. Both were anchored alongside each other at the time of the attack. The Safesea Vishnu is owned by US-based Safesea Transport Inc. The Zefyros is registered to a Greek company. The vessels may have been carrying up to 400,000 barrels of Iraqi oil at the time of the strike, according to TankerTrackers.com.

Iraqi Ports Company director general Farhan al-Fartousi confirmed the rescue of all 38 foreign crew members and stated that oil port operations had been suspended following the attack. Lieutenant General Saad Maan, head of media at Iraq’s joint operations command, described the strike as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and said the country reserved the right to pursue legal action.

The Broader Context

The attack took place roughly 600 miles north of the Strait of Hormuz, where Operation Epic Fury and Iranian counterattacks have already severely disrupted shipping traffic. Oil prices surged earlier this week on supply chain concerns tied to the war, and the tanker strike added direct physical confirmation to what had previously been a threat posture. Iraq’s decision to suspend port operations following the attack compounds the disruption to regional oil flows that began when the conflict opened on February 28.

Iran has threatened to block all oil exports from the region to hostile nations. The strike on Iraqi-flagged vessels carrying Iraqi oil inside Iraqi territorial waters represents a significant escalation of that posture, extending Iranian offensive action beyond the conflict’s primary combatants and into the sovereign territory of a neighboring country that has not joined the war.