Iran and US give conflicting accounts of tanker blast near Hormuz

Iran's IRGC says the Panama-flagged tanker El Gaia struck a naval mine south of the Strait of Hormuz, causing a fire. US Central Command calls that false, saying the vessel was hit by an Iranian missile last month and again by a drone over the weekend. The dispute keeps oil markets on edge, with Brent crude at €98.50 ($107.46) per barrel and traffic through the strait 90% below normal, per the Joint Maritime Information Center.

Bottom line — Brent crude at €98.50 reflects two impaired Gulf export routes and no restart date for Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline.

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• The IRGC said the tanker ignored warnings that the strait was closed under Tehran's 'smart control' and took an unsafe route, per Fars news agency as reported by Gulf News.
• CENTCOM described the Iranian claim as 'another example of their lies and intimidation attempts' and said the El Gaia is being towed by a regional partner, per Anadolu Agency.
• The crew of 14 were Indian nationals; 13 were rescued and one remains missing, according to ANI as carried by The Tribune.
• Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline remains shut after drone strikes on 10-11 September, with no reopening timeline, per Trading Economics. CNBC published satellite images showing fire damage at a pumping station.
• The Joint Maritime Information Center rates the Hormuz threat as 'SEVERE' and puts traffic at about 20 US-facilitated transits a day against a pre-conflict baseline of roughly 138, per gCaptain.
• A Pentagon watchdog report said the US spent an estimated €20.5 billion ($22.3 billion) on munitions in the first four months of its war with Iran, exposing industrial base weaknesses, per The Independent.
• President Trump said on Truth Social he is 'open' to negotiations but that the final decision rests with him, while Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei said talks cannot proceed until Tehran's conditions are met, per Al Jazeera.

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