New attacks on shipping as Iran war talks hit fresh impasse

The U.S. and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis reported separate attacks on shipping on Tuesday as prospects for ending the Iran war appeared to dim, with Tehran saying the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed unless ​Washington accepts its conditions.

The attacks, in the Gulf of Oman leading to the strait and at the entrance to the Red Sea — both vital chokepoints for global oil supplies — come as ‌the war shows no signs of ending despite repeated assertions from U.S. President Donald Trump of a deal being imminent.

Oil prices gained and global shares retreated amid renewed pessimism about a quick end to the conflict. Brent crude futures climbed 1.4% to settle at $88.91 per barrel and U.S. crude rose 1.3% to $83.20.

At the southern end of the Red Sea, four crew members were killed in a suspected Houthi attack on a small cargo vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, Yemen's Transport Ministry said. Two ​Yemeni rescuers from an anti-Houthi military group were also killed, Yemen's Coast Guard said.

The fatalities aboard the Egyptian-owned Tihamah would be the first deaths on shipping by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis since the Iran ​war began.

The Houthi-run news agency Saba reported that the group, which said last month it would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, attacked ⁠a Saudi ship carrying military equipment in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It did not name the ship, and there was no immediate Saudi response to the report.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, said a U.S. Navy MH-60 helicopter fired ​two Hellfire missiles to disable the steering gear of a Panama-flagged cargo ship.

The ship ignored repeated warnings to stop violating a naval blockade on Iranian ports, the U.S. Central Command said. Maritime sources told Reuters the ship was ​hit off Pakistan while sailing into the Gulf of Oman.