Four crew members have been killed in a suspected Houthi attack on a small cargo vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, as new attacks on shipping added to growing tensions over the Iran war.
Yemen's Transport Ministry said the crew members were killed aboard the Egyptian-owned Tihamah. Two Yemeni rescuers from an anti-Houthi military group were also killed, according to Yemen's Coast Guard.
If confirmed, the deaths would be the first reported fatalities on shipping by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis since the Iran war began.
The Houthi-run Saba news agency said the group had attacked a Saudi ship that it said was carrying military equipment in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It did not name the vessel, and there was no immediate response from Saudi Arabia.
The attack came alongside a separate incident involving a Panama-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman.
The U.S. military said a U.S. Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles to disable the ship's steering gear after it ignored repeated warnings to stop violating a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Maritime sources told Reuters that the ship was hit off Pakistan while sailing into the Gulf of Oman.
The two waterways are important routes for global oil supplies, and the attacks came as hopes of a quick end to the conflict appeared to weaken.
Oil prices rose on Tuesday, with Brent crude futures gaining 1.4% to settle at $88.91 per barrel. U.S. crude rose 1.3% to $83.20, while global shares retreated.
Iran has also said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed unless the United States accepts its conditions for ending the war.
Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei said the conditions include the release of Iran's frozen assets and an end to conflicts throughout the region, including in Lebanon and Gaza.
The Strait of Hormuz handled about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows before the war.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has continued to alternate between threats of further military action and claims that a deal with Iran could be imminent.
The latest attacks have added to uncertainty over shipping in the region as the conflict continues and efforts to reach an agreement remain stalled.
