Iran Targets Ships Near Strait of Hormuz; US denies

Iran Targets Ships Near Strait of Hormuz; US denies

Tehran, September 14, 2025 [VoM News]: Iran said it attacked 10 ships this week, including two US ships, in the Strait of Hormuz, according to iPaper. It said the ships had violated the restrictions it was trying to put on the waterway.

The US denied any of its ships had been hit, while US forces said they had destroyed five Iranian oil tankers.

The attacks have moved beyond ships. Iran launched dozens of missiles at a key US military installation in the region this week. Nine US war planes were reported damaged by the strike on the Muwaffaq Salti air base in Jordan, according to AP.

Iran also shut down its 745-mile East-West pipeline after drones attacked it on Friday. The pipeline is important as it would enable Iran to move its oil without passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

The drones came from Iraq, which is now looking into the incident. US President Donald Trump told reporters on Saturday that Iran was “probably” behind the attack. The country has been raising the number of missiles it uses, and the range of those missiles, as it targets bigger areas.

US shipping research company Kpler said no Iranian crude oil has crossed the American blockade in the six weeks since it was announced in July. The US has allowed only a few ships to cross, based on WSJ reports.

The attack has badly affected Iran’s economy. Official figures show inflation is around 88%, while the International Monetary Fund expects the economy to shrink by 5.4% this year.

Brent oil hit $100 a barrel this week, while American petrol prices have gone above $4 a gallon, and diesel above $6.

Trump has said it’s worth it to raise petrol prices to stop Iran getting a nuclear weapon, and has promised to give each American $5,000 if Republicans win the midterm elections in November. He said the war would end as soon as the elections were over, according to the BBC.

Mohsen Rezaei, chairman of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said for the first time Iran was using anti-destroyer missiles against ships, Iran International reported.

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran had stopped its previous policy of tit-for-tat responses to other countries’ attacks.

Iran is said to be working with Russia on supersonic anti-ship missiles, which could make the problems at sea even worse.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that getting rid of the Iranian government was Israel’s “central mission” and that the mission was achievable.

Israel has been attacking Hezbollah, the Iranian-inspired group in Lebanon, more often. Despite a ceasefire, Israeli forces targeted Hezbollah’s base deep under Ali Taher Ridge this week and destroyed the “biggest Iranian outpost outside Iran,” Netanyahu said.