Iran threatens Middle East oil halt over US blockade
Iran threatens to halt Middle East energy exports after US strikes killed 35 civilians and broke a ceasefire British bases helped enforce.
Iran threatened to halt all Middle East energy exports on 15 July in a stark warning over the Iran energy exports threat, after US strikes killed 35 civilians and shattered a ceasefire Washington signed a month before.
The threat to Middle East energy exports came from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which said oil and gas would flow from the region “either for everyone or for no-one,” a direct response to the US navy blockade reimposed on Iranian ports from 14 July and a fresh bombing campaign inside Iran.
Iran’s Health Ministry said at least 35 civilians were killed and more than 260 wounded in the overnight strikes, concentrated in Hormozgan, Sistan and Baluchestan, and Khuzestan. Seven soldiers, among them conscripts, died when 13 US missiles hit a residential barracks in Bampur. Missiles also struck a naval watchtower in Chabahar used by fishermen for search and rescue. Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani put the toll at more than 30 killed “in recent days.” The figures come from Iranian officials; no independent count has yet been published.
US Central Command said it hit around 300 targets “to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners,” including a barracks of Iran’s 388th Mechanised Infantry Brigade and a position on Greater Tunb Island commanding the Strait of Hormuz. Within 17 hours of the blockade returning, CENTCOM said it had “redirected” two commercial vessels attempting to pass.
Iran’s energy exports threat and the broken ceasefire
The blockade and strikes mark the collapse of the Islamabad Memorandum, the 14-point ceasefire the US and Iran signed on 17 June promising an “immediate and permanent end to the war,” safe passage through Hormuz, sanctions relief and a $300bn reconstruction plan. Iran’s UN representative says Washington “consistently refused to implement its commitments.” The US points to Iranian strikes on tankers in Omani waters on 12 July, which killed one crew member, as its reason for reimposing the blockade. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi declared the memorandum void on 14 July. The US Treasury has since frozen more than $130m by sanctioning crypto wallets linked to Iran’s central bank.
Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Britain is already paying for this war: Ofgem’s price cap is set to rise by up to £209 a year from July, pushing average household bills to around £1,850, while petrol sits at a two-year high of 151p a litre. Keir Starmer authorised US use of British bases, including RAF Fairford’s B-1 bombers and Diego Garcia, for the strike campaign now driving those bills up. The government that lent the runways is the government that will explain the gas bill.
Trump’s threat
Donald Trump told Fox News more strikes were coming. “Next week it gets really bad for them,” he said. “We’re gonna knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.” At least one bridge has already been hit.
