Two oil tankers shuttling oil out of the Gulf were hit on Monday night amid a rise in attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, even as the US claimed its military was safely guiding vessels through the waterway. The strikes follow a renewed round of violence between the US and Iran, with Tehran firing on a US military base in Jordan on Monday in retaliation for US attacks on Larak Island.

The tankers were the Senegal Prosperity, owned by the South Korean shipping company Sinokor, and the Saudi-owned vessel Sidr, according to two maritime security analysts. UK Maritime Trade Operations reported one tanker had been struck by three "unknown projectiles" while transiting via the route closest to the Omani coast, a channel the US military claims is fully open and under its protection.

The price of Brent crude edged up to $92 per barrel in intraday trading on Tuesday. Iran has increasingly targeted vessels shuttling oil out of the Gulf. The Kuwaiti oil tanker Burgan was hit by a missile on Saturday, the second Kuwaiti vessel targeted within 48 hours. US President Donald Trump touted that the US was safely guiding an average of 30 ships out through the critical waterway each night.

Following the collapse of an interim deal signed in June, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would immediately reciprocate if the US sticks to the deal, speaking at a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kyrgyzstan.