Daily life continues in the strategic port city of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz amid ongoing tensions between Iran and the United States, as Iranians spend time along the city’s waterfront at sunset in Bandar Abbas, Iran, September 12, 2026.
Fatemeh Bahrami | Anadolu | Getty Images
At least two ships were struck over the weekend in waters near Oman and Iran, the UK’s Maritime Trade Operations Center reported, as Tehran reiterated its position on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz would not reopen until its conditions for ending the war with the United States were met.
On Saturday, the UKMTO, a British maritime safety alert service, said it had received a report that an oil tanker had been hit by an unknown projectile four nautical miles east of Oman. It said another tanker was reportedly struck in a similar manner on Sunday in the Strait of Hormuz, causing damage to its engine room.
Attacks on ships in the strait, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil reserves passed before the US-Israeli war began on February 28, have been occurring regularly for weeks.
“The Strait of Hormuz will not be opened until the seven conditions imposed by Iran based on the Islamabad memorandum are met, and Iran will not regulate its national security with tweets from US officials,” Iranian state news agency Nour News said on Sunday, citing Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed an interim agreement, known as the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, in June that led to a brief pause in fighting.
Conditions imposed by Tehran to allow ships to move freely through the Strait of Hormuz include stopping US “acts of aggression,” ending the US naval blockade of its ports and economic warfare, and releasing Iranian assets.
One of the United States’ main demands was that Iran dismantle its nuclear weapons program.
Saudi attack
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure has reportedly come under renewed attack.
Reuters reported on Saturday that Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they had targeted a facility owned by Saudi oil giant Aramco in the capital Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones. The group said the attack was in retaliation for Saudi attacks on Yemen’s Sanaa and other provinces.
Flames burn at a facility belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco, south of Riyadh, on October 3, 2026. (AFP Photo via Getty Images) /
– | Afp | Getty Images
A large plume of smoke and fire rose above the facility, Reuters cited a witness as saying.
Saudi authorities have not commented on the reported attack. Aramco did not immediately respond to CNBC’s emailed request for comment.
If confirmed, it would be the latest escalation in what has effectively become a second front in the Iran war.
Not if, but when
Some investors say they expect a resumption of large-scale fighting in the Middle East.
“The situation is fluid and volatile. For me, as we evolve and review the situation, the question is not if, but when the conflict will fully resume,” Bader Al-Saif, founding president of Al-Saif Consulting, told CNBC’s Access Middle East on Friday.
The ongoing attacks and the prospect of further escalation have driven up energy prices in recent weeks, raising inflation expectations globally and putting upward pressure on government borrowing costs.
Reports that the United States would send a third aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, as well as an amphibious force carrying 2,000 Marines, sent crude oil prices higher on Thursday. But prices fell slightly on Friday, after Group of Seven countries announced the release of diesel and crude stocks to ease the burden on consumers.
Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, lost 6 cents to close at $102.25 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude lost $1.76 to settle at $91.11 a barrel.
Brent crude oil prices, in US dollars per barrel, year-to-date
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