Reuters Reports Iran Using New Tactics to Keep Oil Prices High

Reuters claimed that two senior Iranian officials said Tehran has adopted a new tactic to target non-compliant ships in Hormuz in order to prevent a drop in oil prices.

Reuters claimed that two senior Iranian officials said that Tehran is using a new tactic to target disobedient ships in Hormuz to prevent oil prices from falling.

According to Ambassador Arjan Anlai, Ambassador Arjan claimed in a report quoting two senior Iranian officials that the Islamic Republic of Iran is using new tactics to target ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz in order to keep the global oil price at high levels and influence the US mid-term elections.

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Reuters wrote: Tehran has been trying to increase its control over the Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28. Before the war, this waterway was the route of about one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas trade.

The restrictions imposed by Iran have greatly reduced maritime traffic in this strait and increased the price of oil; However, some of the oil shipments still pass through this route.

The two Iranian officials, whose identities have not been released by Reuters, declined to provide details of the new strategy, but one of them said Iran began using different offensive methods about 10 days ago against ships that Tehran sees as violating the restrictions. According to him, this change of approach has been accompanied by an increase in attacks on such ships.

According to these officials, the new strategy has changed both the type of attacks and their speed and intensity, and one of its goals is to influence the outcome of the American elections.

One of these two officials told Reuters: The goal is to thwart the efforts of the United States and its allies to lower the global oil price.

Reuters quoted these officials as saying that the decision to adopt a new strategy was made at the highest levels of Iran's leadership and its implementation was fully coordinated throughout the country's governance structure.

The use of unarmed lookouts by the IRGC

Meanwhile, a US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Iran had changed its tactics in at least one important respect.

According to him, after the American attacks destroyed a major part of Iran's radar capability, the IRGC has started using unarmed lookouts on small boats to identify possible targets, including US Navy vessels.

This American official claimed that last week, in an incident that had not been reported before, the US Army recognized that Iranian observers were using a launch pad to identify targets and announce their location to the IRGC.

American forces confronted the vessel, ordered its occupants to leave the vessel, and then destroyed the vessel. According to him, no one was killed or injured in this incident.

Reuters, quoting two Iranian officials, wrote that Tehran will expand the geographical scope of its operations beyond the Strait of Hormuz and include the Gulf of Oman and further waters as part of the new strategy.

Analyzes of maritime security sources based on incidents reported to UKMTO and companies active in the maritime security field indicate that this expansion is likely to have begun.

Based on these analyses, Iran has targeted ships in areas beyond the Strait of Hormuz, including in the waters off the coasts of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, independent data shows that attacks on merchant ships still passing through the strait have reached their highest level since the start of the war in recent days.

Analysis of data from maritime security sources shows that the area around the Strait of Hormuz has witnessed at least five incidents involving oil tankers and other commercial vessels, including drone attacks, in the past 48 hours.

The UN-affiliated International Maritime Organization said the number was roughly the same as the attacks between October 3 and 5, indicating a new escalation in tensions. One of the sources in the maritime security department said: There is an increase in the wave of attacks and it seems that this is intentional.

Reuters quoted the second Iranian official as saying that Tehran will not allow Trump to lower oil prices before the mid-term elections.

"When they think they're getting close to a point where prices will fall, we push them away from that point," he said. This is a chess game.

He added: Such ships will not be safe anywhere, even outside the Strait of Hormuz.

The two Iranian officials also said that Tehran is moving towards a situation where no ship violating its restrictions will be able to pass through the strait.

One of them said: "Complete closure will happen soon."

The US Navy-led Joint Maritime Intelligence Center also announced in its latest report on Sunday that the threat to commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz remains "severe", which is the second highest level of alert.

The center added: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacks and attempts to carry out attacks and harassing actions, including flying drones, monitoring commercial ships and occasional communication through radio frequencies, have continued.

US war and election costs

Reuters wrote in another part of its report that the war and its monthly cost of 3 billion dollars has become one of the main axes of the American election campaigns for the mid-term elections in November; An election that will determine the dominant party in the Congress. US President Donald Trump is considering next steps against Iran, but has said he will not launch another strike before the election.

Tensions over the Strait of Hormuz have further disrupted global energy markets, as the risk of attacks and rising shipping and insurance costs have complicated efforts to return maritime traffic to normal levels, according to Reuters.

Reuters also reported that the Pentagon and Iran's Foreign Ministry have yet to respond to Reuters requests for comment.