2026 Iran War: 2026-08-12

Brent crude rose more than 2 percent overnight into Wednesday toward about $90 a barrel, with October futures near $89.61 as of 03:00 GMT, Al Jazeera reported. Markets cited Houthi shipping strikes in Bab al-Mandeb and the US disabling of a Panama-flagged cargo ship under the Iran port blockade. Windward data showed only 10 vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday versus roughly 130 daily before the war. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright claimed a seven-day average near 9 million barrels per day leaving the strait; tanker trackers and analysts put recent averages lower, near 7 million.

Newly appointed Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until the United States ends the war and naval blockade of Iranian ports, releases frozen Iranian assets, and agrees to a region-wide ceasefire including Lebanon and Gaza. Al Jazeera cited Iranian media and Rezaei remarks on X. There was no immediate comment from Washington. Qatar separately said Oman-Iran shipping talks are advanced, while Tehran says those technical talks do not equal reopening the waterway.

Yemen's internationally recognized government and coastguard said six people were killed after Houthi forces struck a cargo vessel in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait with ballistic missiles. Four crew members died (three Pakistanis and one Indonesian); two Yemeni rescuers were later killed when a second strike hit the rescue effort, according to BBC and Al Jazeera. The Houthis said they hit a ship carrying Saudi military equipment. Officials and ship trackers identified the vessel as Tihamah, Egyptian-operated, flagged as Tanzanian or described as Yemeni commercial depending on the source. It appears the first deadly Houthi shipping attack since the Iran war began in late February.