Hormuz traffic pauses, OPEC+ adds supply, as 8 killed in Iran strike on Israel
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The news: Oil shipping has largely paused through the Strait of Hormuz with traffic slowed to a trickle after US and Israeli strikes on Iran, with Iranian media describing the waterway as “practically closed” and ships reporting radio warnings that transit was banned.
Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said the Palau-flagged tanker Skylight was targeted five nautical miles north of Port Khasab, injuring four crew, while the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported a vessel struck by an unknown projectile off Oman.
Meanwhile, OPEC+ agreed in principle to increase oil production by 206,000 barrels a day, delegates said.
Core members led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, which had halted planned increases in the first quarter, will now raise the daily output, they said after their monthly video conference Sunday local time.
The context: On the second day of fighting triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Iran, both sides continued attacks across the region, prolonging airspace closures and raising fears of a sustained regional conflict.
Israel said it launched another wave of strikes on Tehran, while Iran fired missiles and drones at Israel and neighbouring Gulf states.
Israel’s national emergency service, Magen David Adom, said on Sunday the number of people killed in an Iranian missile strike on Beit Shemesh, west of Jerusalem, had climbed to eight.
The agency said additional teams were treating and transporting 28 injured people to hospitals, including two in serious condition, two in moderate condition and 24 with minor injuries.
The UAE defence ministry said three people were killed and 58 lightly wounded. In Pakistan, nine people were killed in clashes after protesters stormed the US consulate in Karachi, Reuters reported.
Early Sunday local time, a day after the US and Israeli strikes on the country began, Iranian state television IRIB confirmed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, was killed along with members of his family in an attack on his compound, and declared 40 days of mourning and a seven-day nationwide shutdown.
What they said: China’s foreign ministry said the killing was a serious violation of Iran’s sovereignty and strongly condemned it. Russian President Vladimir Putin described it as a “cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia supported the US and Israeli led action but that the legality of the strikes was a matter for the US.
“What I would say is that the threat to international peace and security of the Iranian regime is real,” Albanese said. “The fact that they orchestrated attacks here in Australia, on the other side of the world, underlies the threat that this regime presented to the rule of law and to international norms of behavior.”
