The United States launched a second consecutive day of airstrikes against targets in Iran on Monday, while Tehran responded by striking American assets in allied Gulf states.
An Iranian official confirmed that US strikes hit an agricultural water pumping station in Mahshahr city, killing one person and injuring four others.
Although flows had surged to 10 million barrels a day as shipping resumed earlier in July, the latest flare-up threatens to reintroduce significant risk premiums into energy and freight markets.
The reciprocal attacks mark a sharp escalation in the ongoing conflict, moving beyond diplomatic posturing to direct kinetic engagement on both sides of the Persian Gulf.
The renewed violence casts immediate doubt on the stability of shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint through which roughly 20% of global oil consumption passes.
Although flows had surged to 10 million barrels a day as shipping resumed earlier in July, the latest flare-up threatens to reintroduce significant risk premiums into energy and freight markets.
Traders are likely to price in heightened volatility for Brent crude and tanker rates as the security outlook for the corridor deteriorates.