Report: Iran Steps Up Attacks on Hormuz Oil Shipments to Hurt Trump in Midterms
Reuters: “Iran is deploying new tactics to target ships sailing through the Strait of Hormuz as it seeks to keep oil prices high and influence the US midterm elections.”
Iran is stepping up attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, aiming to hurt President Donald Trump and the Republican Party in the upcoming midterm elections.
“Iran is deploying new tactics to target ships sailing through the Strait of Hormuz as it seeks to keep oil prices high and influence the US midterm elections,” Reuters reported Wednesday, quoting U.S. officials. “Its threats and attacks have severely curtailed traffic through the strait, driving up oil prices, though some oil has continued to transit.”
President Trump is threatening to hit Iran harder, and the fighting around one of the world's most important oil routes is intensifying.
Speaking at a rally in Alaska, the president warns the U.S. is "going to do a number on Iran," while insisting American forces control the… pic.twitter.com/jhNP28KOnp
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 14, 2026
With the midterms just three weeks away, Tehran has altered its military strategy to influence the U.S. election. “The strategy included a change in the type as well as the pace of attacks, with one goal being to influence the outcome of the US vote,” the news agency added, citing officials.
The Iranian strategy to influence the U.S. vote is not limited to the Strait of Hormuz. The regime is using its Yemen-based proxy Houthi terror group to disrupt energy supplies across the Middle East. As Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intensifies attacks on shipping in the Hormuz waterway, the Houthis are targeting Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure.
Iranian forces reportedly managed to strike 6 commercial vessels in and near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday alone -UKMTO
The 6 ships struck on Oct. 11 mark the highest single-day tally since the war began. pic.twitter.com/jcvwTi2nFj
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) October 13, 2026
Reuters reported:
Iran is deploying new tactics to target ships sailing through the Strait of Hormuz as it seeks to keep oil prices high and influence the US midterm elections, two senior Iranian officials told Reuters.
Tehran has tried to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28. It has restricted passage through the waterway, which carried about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade before the war, in an effort to gain leverage over Washington.
Its threats and attacks have severely curtailed traffic through the strait, driving up oil prices, though some oil has continued to transit.
The two officials declined to provide details of the new strategy, but one said that Iran had started using different offensive tactics against vessels it considered in violation of its restrictions about 10 days ago, adding that this had led to an increase in attacks on such ships.
The strategy included a change in the type as well as the pace of attacks, with one goal being to influence the outcome of the US vote, they said.
“The aim is to frustrate efforts by the United States and its allies to bring down global oil prices,” one of the two officials said.
A US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Iran had changed tactics in one significant way: after the US destroyed much of Iran’s radar capabilities, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had started using unarmed spotters in small boats to identify potential targets, including US naval vessels, the official said.
Last week, in a previously unreported incident, the US military determined that Iranian spotters were operating from a dhow, calling in targets to the IRGC, the official said. US forces confronted the vessel, told its occupants to abandon ship and then destroyed it. There were no casualties, the US official said.
Unwilling to risk its remaining fast boats, Iran had been unable to prevent a ramp-up in oil exports through the strait, the official said, particularly after US strikes devastated its navy.
After days of drone and missile strikes on Saudi airports, the Yemen-based terrorist group struck the headquarters of Aramco, the world’s largest crude oil producer.
“Offices belonging to senior executives with Saudi oil giant Aramco were hit in an overnight Houthi strike on the company’s headquarters,” the Associated Press reported Wednesday. “One official said the office of the Aramco chief executive was among those hit. There were no casualties.”
Israel, heading for a general election in less than two weeks, is also witnessing an increased escalation from Iran and its terrorist proxies.
Israel’s Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, assured that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has raised its preparedness to face the rising threat. “In light of the increased number of alerts across all fronts and the sensitivity of this period, the potential for escalation has grown,” Lt. Gen. Zamir, warned on Wednesday. We have reinforced our troops and raised our level of readiness, and we continue preparing for scenarios in which attempts may be made to catch us by surprise.
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Comments
Iran knows it can’t defeat the US military but can defeat the US voter.
Neutron bomb IRGC HQ. Maybe the blind will start to realize “Allah” doesn’t have their brainwashed backs protected.
With the flow of oil coming out there’s not justification for prices to remain high. We have a few stations at $3.85 and less than two miles away others at $4.14 and $3.99 or $4.09 for credit cards! Even the QT stores are wildly varied! One is $3.85 while another is $4.24 – within 26 miles. I guess being located on a Major Highway allows those stores to get away with their high prices! So don’t blame all of the high crap on the Strait or PRESIDENT TRUMP and his TEAM’s efforts!!
Iran again bent on helping the Democrats. Staunch allies. Only thing they can’t agree on is who hates America the most and wants it trashed worse.
I think it’s a tie between them.
maybe not defeat, but it sure can make Trump look silly!
Democrats thank Iran for their support.
Of course anyone capable of rubbing two or more functioning brain cells together realise Democrats don’t bring anything to the table that will actually help with cost of living issues.
Then again, I guess theorists are good at identifying those that have similar beliefs to them eh 🙄
Wake up, Mr. President! There is only one way to defeat these scum and you refuse to do it.
Nuking them from orbit is the only way to be sure, but Trump isn’t going to do that.
Netanyahu might, though.
One can hope.
The RINOs and democrats would ensure the President is impeached for such an action against their terrorist pals.
If Iran wanted to affect oil prices they would join Ukraine in attacking Russian refineries.
The two tankers sunk today: one was carrying 170,000 tons of coal; the other
was a container ship. The headline above is (intentionally?) misleading.
Sources?
Why coal in a region full of oil and nat gas?
IIRC it was the NYPost.
HotAir was stating similar earlier this week.
This has conflict has been a demonstration of inadequate foresight and poor planning, It’s hard to for me to assign responsibility but as Trump is president he bears the blunt of the responsibility. This is definitely going to affect the midterms to the detriment of this country,
Leaving Iran alone would have left them free to coordinate even larger terrorist plots, potentially even including a nuke or at least dirty bombs. Then the retaliation would put things largely like they are now, only on the back foot.
It’s never the right time to do the right thing, as far as politics is concerned.
Understanding this, I’ll pay the higher prices at the pump without complaint (they’re still cheaper than when Biden was in, by the way), and my vote won’t change.
My vote went in on Monday, but what I saw at the early voting place did not look good. Turnout was extremely heavy, the line was 15 minutes long, and most of the voters who took a sample ballot took a blue one. Remember, early voting has been open for almost a month now. If it keeps up like this, Democrat turnout may hit records.
And I still expect Iran to do something really big in the next 2 weeks. I’m not sure what – an attack on a Trump rally or domestic refineries perhaps, but big.
What are you talking about?? According to the intraweb ballots are not colour coded blue for democrats and red for republicans??
Sounds like bullshit to me. Pity we don’t have a dangerous misinformation reporting button eh 🤣
The most important objective was to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power and the world has Jews and Trump to thank for that.
As for petrol prices going up, that is absolutely on Western Governments who have deliberately outsourced their own peoples energy security to a part of the world that is neither secure nor particularly peaceful.
Finally, can you imagine how bad things could have become if Iran had a nuclear weapon to use as a threat to world peace. At least with threatening shipping through Hormuz we do have some other options. With nuclear weapons the world would have had NO good options other than capitulation to the mullahs in Tehran.
Thank god Jews and Trump have balls of steel!
Yep.
Iranian UN Ambassador:
“Good morning. We have hidden a 500 kiloton device in a European capital city, well shielded. Do as we say or we detonate it and the others we may or may not have placed on other cities. Comply or suffer Al**** divine wrath.”
Or simply in a random container ship in a random port. They are not rational actors.
You know, if everyone can get upset because Russia spent money on Facebook ads to supposedly help Trump, and hold that against Trump….
Can’t we hold the “Vote Democrat” Iranian tweet against the Democrats? And, then Iran tries blowing up ships? Let’s get the DNC roasting over the fire, baby!
(Yes, that is rhetoric.)
Okay, but Trump will still be President Nov 7th. And he’ll be pissed. Democrats running for President in 2028 wont be seen being soft on Iran, either. And no matter who gets elected in 2028, Iran cannot survive 2 years blockaded, waiting to find out.
That is why I expect Iran to do a nuclear test to deter Trump and/or an attack on a Trump rally to get rid of him before Nov 3. Their maximum danger period is in the Lame Duck session and they know it.
If Iran had a nuke to test they would have already tested it.
Hit them back and hard
Only straw Iran can hold on to right now is the elections. After that we will bomb them in to submission.
After the mid terms, we should expect Trumps DoD to move swiftly and very aggressively on the IRGC. This might include covert ops with US special forces in direct contact with Iranian IRGC assets.
If the economic blockade is as effective as the administration says it is, the only logical reason for the regime (whatever that means) remaining in power is that the general population is not capable of a revolt due to the IRGC.
I suppose there is a possibility that the majority, or a substantial portion, of Iranians do not want to overthrow the government/IRGC. Not sure what to do about that.
You can bet your last nickel that the Communists – er, I mean the Democrats – are in cahoots with the Iranians on this and have been advising them so the elections can be stolen and then the Democrats will force our military to be withdrawn.