Iran Says It Will 'Set Ablaze' Any Ship Trying to Pass Through Strait of Hormuz

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Monday that the Strait of Hormuz has been closed and Iran will attack any vessel trying to cross, as reported by Iranian media.

This statement serves as a public warning since Iran announced the tightening of the global export route on Saturday. This move would strangle one-fifth of the global oil flow and trigger a surge in crude oil prices.

"The strait (of Hormuz) is closed. If anyone tries to pass, the heroes of the Revolutionary Guards and the regular navy will set those ships ablaze," said Ebrahim Jabbari, a senior advisor to the IRGC's chief commander, in a speech broadcast by the government media, as cited by CNA.

The strait serves as the most vital oil trade route globally, connecting the largest Gulf oil producers such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

Tehran also targets critical infrastructure for global energy production as part of retaliation against the Israeli and U.S. bombing campaign that began on Saturday, killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of other senior officials.

“We will also attack oil pipelines and will not allow a single drop of oil to leave the region. Oil price will reach $200 in the coming days,” Jabbari said in a post on the IRGC's Telegram channel.

“The Americans, with debts of thousands of billions of dollars, are dependent on the region’s oil, but they should know that not even a drop of oil will reach them,” as quoted by the semi-official news agency Tasnim.

Rise in Energy Prices

The Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and Oman, is one of the most important oil transit routes globally, with about 20 percent of global oil supply passing through it.

Any disruption there will further drive up crude oil prices and increase concerns about regional escalation.

Energy prices surged sharply on Monday morning due to disruptions in tanker traffic through the strait, and damage to production facilities, raising uncertainty about how the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran will affect the supply to the global economy.

The biggest surprise was in natural gas prices, which rose nearly 50 percent in Europe and almost 40 percent in Asia as QatarEnergy, a major supplier, halted its production of liquefied natural gas after its LNG facility was attacked.

Previously, the Ras Tanura oil refinery in Saudi Arabia was also attacked by drones, and its defense shot down the incoming aircraft, a military spokesperson told the state-run Saudi Press Agency. The refinery has a capacity of more than half a million barrels of crude oil per day.

However, Iran denied attacking the Saudi oil refinery.

In response, the U.S. stated that it will take action to mitigate the rise in energy prices due to the war with Iran, according to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“Starting tomorrow, you will see us rolling out those phases to try to mitigate against that… We anticipated this could be an issue,” Rubio said as reported by Al Jazeera.

This step is also taken after global shipping has experienced disruptions related to drone and missile attacks carried out by Iran-allied Houthi militants in Yemen. The group has targeted ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since the Gaza conflict broke out in 2023.

Read: Indonesian Deputy Minister Stranded in Qatar Amid Iran-US War

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