Crude oil tanker off Dubai hit by Iranian strike after Trump's latest threats
A foreign tanker carrying Iraqi fuel oil damaged after catching fire in Iraq's territorial waters, following unidentified attacks that targeted two foreign tankers, according to Iraqi port officials, near Basra, Iraq, March 12, 2026. PHOTO: REUTERS
Iran attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded crude oil tanker off Dubai on Monday, as President Donald Trump warned the US would obliterate Iran's energy plants and oil wells if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz.
The strike on the Kuwait-flagged Al-Salmi is the latest in a string of strikes on vessels disallowed to cross the Strait by missiles and explosive air and sea drones in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
The conflict has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands of civilians in Iran, Lebanon and other Gulf countries, disrupting energy supplies and threatening to send the global economy into a tailspin.
Crude oil prices briefly spiked anew after the attack on the tanker, which can carry around 2 million barrels of oil worth more than $200 million at current prices.
Kuwait Petroleum Corp, the ship's owner, said the attack happened early on Tuesday, causing a fire and hull damage, but there were no reported injuries.
Authorities in Dubai later said they had been able to bring the fire under control following a drone attack on the tanker. No injuries have been reported, they said.
The jump in oil and fuel prices has started to weigh on U.S. household finances and become a political headache for Trump and his Republican Party ahead of the November midterm elections, having vowed to lower energy prices and ramp up U.S. oil and gas production.
The US national average retail price of gasoline crossed $4 a gallon for the first time in more than three years on Monday, data from price-tracking service GasBuddy showed, as tightening global supplies push US crude prices above $101 a barrel.
Trump seeks to end war without reopening Hormuz
Trump is ‘willing to end war without reopening Hormuz,' according to the Wall Street Journal, citing US officials. Trump and his aides have assessed in recent days that attempting to pry open the chokepoint would push the war beyond the president’s timeline of four to six weeks.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later said Trump wanted to reach a deal with Tehran before an April 6 deadline he set last week after extending an earlier deadline he had set for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz.
Leavitt said talks with Iran were progressing, adding that what Tehran says publicly differs from what it tells US officials in private
.@PressSec on talks with Iran: "Despite all of the public posturing you hear from the regime, and false reporting, talks are continuing and going well. What is said publicly is, of course, much different than what's being communicated to us privately." pic.twitter.com/u3NAy15TAT
Trump decided that the US should achieve its main goals of crippling Iran’s Navy and its missile stocks, winding down the fighting, WSJ reports. Washington would proceed to diplomatically pressure Tehran to resume trade, pressing allies in Europe and the Gulf to take the lead.
Trump threatened on Monday that US forces would obliterate Iran's energy plants and oil wells if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz.
In an Al Jazeera interview on Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that President Donald Trump “always prefers diplomacy”, but warned Iran of “real consequences” over the partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has largely rejected calls to open the passage and has attacked several tankers passing through Hormuz in the past month. Tehran can block the Strait for an indefinite amount of time until a ceasefire is reached.
Read: Trump says US in talks with 'more reasonable' Iran regime, warns of attacks if no deal
Iran strikes Dubai oil tanker
Iran attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded crude oil tanker off Dubai on Monday.
The apparent strike on the Kuwait-flagged Al-Salmi is the latest in a string of assaults on merchant vessels by missiles or explosive air and sea drones in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
WAR UPDATE
A Kuwaiti crude oil tanker (Al-Salmi) was reportedly hit near Dubai port anchorage.
The strike caused a fire on board, with visible flames and smoke.
Emergency teams responded and the fire was later brought under control.
No casualties were reported among crew… pic.twitter.com/4xJecR6kgqThe month-long conflict has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands, disrupting energy supplies and threatening to send the global economy into a tailspin.
Crude oil prices briefly spiked anew after Kuwait's state news agency reported the attack on the tanker, which can carry around 2 million barrels of oil worth more than $200 million at current prices.
Kuwait Petroleum Corp, the ship's owner, said work was underway to assess damage and warned of a possible oil spill.
Authorities in Dubai later said they had been able to bring the fire under control following a drone attack on the tanker. No injuries have been reported, they said.
Read More: Dar says Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Egypt back dialogue as only way to 'permanently end' US-Iran war
Troops deploy as talks continue
Attacks by both sides are showing no signs of easing, with fears of a wider conflict growing.
Iran-aligned Houthis entered the war by firing missiles and drones at Israel in recent days and Turkey reported a ballistic missile launched from Iran had entered Turkish airspace before being shot down by NATO air and missile defences.
Israel carried out missile strikes on what it called military infrastructure in Tehran and infrastructure used by Iran-backed Hezbollah in Beirut, leaving black smoke hanging over the Lebanese capital.
Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed in two separate incidents in southern Lebanon.
Thousands of soldiers from the US Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division have started arriving in the Middle East, two US officials told Reuters on Monday, part of a reinforcement that would expand Trump's options to include the deployment of forces inside Iranian territory, even as he pursues talks with Tehran.
Iran said earlier on Monday it had received US peace proposals via intermediaries, following talks on Sunday between the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the proposals were "unrealistic, illogical and excessive".
"Our position is clear. We are under military aggression. Therefore, all our efforts and strength are focused on defending ourselves," he told a press conference.
Soon after Baghaei's remarks, Trump said the US was in talks with a "more reasonable regime" to end the war in Iran, but also issued a new warning over the Strait of Hormuz.
"Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately 'Open for Business,' we will conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island," Trump wrote in a social media post, also threatening to attack Iranian desalination plants.
The White House said Trump was considering asking Arab nations to pay for the cost of the war. "It's an idea that I know that he has and something that I think you'll hear more from him on," Leavitt said in response to a reporter's question about the idea.
His administration requested an additional $200 billion in funding for the war. The request faces stiff opposition in the US Congress, which must approve new spending.