Iran claims strikes on 10 ships including two US vessels near Strait of Hormuz

Iran said it attacked 10 ships—two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers—near the Strait of Hormuz on September 9, 2026, in what Foreign Policy described as Tehran's largest known wave of attacks on shipping since the war began. At least one seafarer was killed aboard the Gibraltar-flagged tanker Hercules Star.

Why this matters. An attack on this scale on U.S.-flagged vessels raises the odds of direct U.S. military retaliation against Iranian naval or IRGC assets, and further curtails already-collapsed Hormuz transit volumes that Gulf oil exporters depend on.