“Ship for Ship”: Washington’s New Strategy to Deter Tehran

An Axios report revealed that the United States has adopted a new strategy toward Iran, dubbed “tanker for tanker.” A U.S. official told Axios that President Donald Trump approved this policy to “deter Iranian attacks on oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz.” Washington officials clarified that, as part of a series of strikes carried out by the U.S. military the day before yesterday, two Iranian government-owned oil tankers were targeted. According to these officials, the strikes were in response to Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, rather than to prevent Tehran from violating the naval blockade. They described the new U.S. policy as one under which any Iranian attack on an oil tanker in the strait would be met with a U.S. attack on an Iranian oil tanker, a concept known as “tanker for tanker.” They emphasized that the U.S. strikes had significantly degraded Tehran’s offensive capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz, noting that Iran’s ability to carry out attacks in the strait had “deteriorated considerably” following the recent U.S. strikes. The two Iranian tankers had been anchored off the Iranian coast, north of the U.S. naval blockade line, when U.S. aircraft launched missiles that struck their engine rooms, marking the first U.S. targeting of Iranian tankers as a retaliatory measure against attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Washington estimates that the recent strikes reduced the Iranian threat to commercial vessels in the strait for at least “one month.” Meanwhile, U.S. forces continued to escort and guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz. A U.S. official stated that approximately 40 vessels transited in both directions the day before yesterday, carrying millions of barrels of oil.