Updated

Iran's IRGC Navy has sharply escalated attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, with multiple tankers and container ships struck by missiles or naval mines over several days in mid-October 2026. At least two container ships carrying thousands of containers sank after being hit, and the IRGC claimed a third 'offending' supertanker was struck within two days, while Iran's navy said it targeted a non-compliant tanker that had switched off tracking systems. Analysts and Iran International reporting suggest the surge is a calculated gamble to choke the strategic waterway and squeeze oil markets ahead of the US midterm elections, exploiting Washington's apparent restraint. Iran's government separately dismissed the US response on reopening Hormuz as 'insufficient.' The attacks mark the sharpest rise in Iranian strikes on shipping since the earlier US-Israel war with Iran, raising fears of a wider confrontation and threatening global oil flows and fuel prices just weeks before US elections.