The world’s most critical oil chokepoint has lurched toward open war after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched a shocking drone strike on a fully loaded crude tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz, defence and shipping sources say.

Shortly before dawn, radar screens aboard nearby vessels picked up multiple low‑flying UAVs racing out of Iranian coastal waters. Seconds later, one slammed into the starboard side of a Marshall Islands–flagged supertanker, triggering a fireball that lit up the narrow waterway. Crew scrambled to contain flames on the deck as black smoke billowed over one of the globe’s busiest sea lanes.

The IRGC swiftly claimed responsibility, calling the ship a “legitimate target” for “carrying oil that finances aggression against Iran.” Tehran insists it warned “hostile” tankers to avoid the strait; shipping companies flatly deny receiving any credible notice, accusing Iran of state piracy.

War‑risk insurers have hiked premiums yet again, and at least a dozen tankers have paused or diverted, effectively choking parts of the route that normally carries around a fifth of the world’s traded oil. US and allied warships rushed to the scene, escorting the damaged vessel toward safer waters while drones and patrol aircraft hunted for the launch site.

Gulf capitals are now on edge. A single drone has proved it can rattle global markets, redraw shipping routes and drag navies to the brink of confrontation. The question haunting traders and admirals tonight is simple: was this Iran’s warning sH๏τ — or the first move in a sustained campaign to turn Hormuz into an economic warzone?