President Donald Trump has reportedly adopted a “tanker for tanker” policy against Iran following the latest round of missile strikes exchanged between the two countries in the region as tensions escalate.
US Attacks Two Iranian Government Tankers
According to a report by Axios on Tuesday, the U.S. military carried out strikes against two Iranian government tankers parked on the Iranian coast north of the U.S. naval blockade line, citing an unnamed U.S. official. Another official told Axios that Trump had approved the “tanker for tanker” policy as a means to deter Iran from striking ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the report said.
U.S. officials cited in the report say that the U.S. struck around 100 targets on Tuesday and said that roughly 40 ships transited in and out of the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, guided by the U.S. military. The report outlined that the U.S. intercepted strikes on ships. U.S. officials also said Iran’s strikes on U.S. assets in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain failed.
The White House did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s request for comment.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Slams Attacks
Following the strikes, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei slammed the U.S., saying that the strikes in the city of Kuhestak on a home that was celebrating a wedding resulted in the deaths/injuries of more than 50 people, including women and children, calling it the U.S.’s “catalogue of atrocities against the nation of Iran.”
According to a report by the New York Times on Tuesday, citing comments by local officials, as well as the Iranian Red Crescent Society, at least four people were killed in the strike on the wedding ceremony in Kuhestak, including one child and 53 people were injured.
Baqaei then pointed to earlier strikes by the U.S., including a strike on a girls’ school in Minab, which resulted in the deaths of more than 150 civilians, a majority of whom were schoolgirls. “More dangerous than the bomb itself is the normalization of bombing; and more dangerous than silence is the conversion of silence into legitimacy,” Baqaei said.
The spokesperson then said that Tehran will have a firm response to the attacks. “Those governments and international institutions that remain silent in the face of such barbarism, or seek to justify such acts, must understand that their silence is not neutrality,” he said.
Baqaei accused countries of normalizing and whitewashing “unlawful” attacks. “Turning a blind eye to injustice does not contain it; it only emboldens the perpetrators,” he said.
Trump Touts Venezuela Oil
Amid the Iran oil shocks, Trump has touted oil from Venezuela to grapple with high energy costs and bring gas prices down at the pump. However, GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan said that U.S. refineries were operating at 95% capacity throughout the summer and warned that there may not be enough room for Venezuelan oil.
Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
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