An average of 10 commodity ships transited the Strait of Hormuz per day over the past 10 days, the lowest since ​May, according to shipping data on Monday, after U.S. and Iranian ‌strikes on tankers, Reuters reported.

The 10-day moving average was 10 on Sunday, down from more than 15 on Friday and nearly 13 on Saturday, data from analytics firm Kpler found.

Only two ​vessels passed through the strait on Saturday while six went through on ​Sunday, mostly using the Iranian route.

U.S. forces struck three Iranian ⁠oil tankers on Saturday, U.S. Central Command said, including one off Kharg Island, Iran’s ​key oil export hub, following attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on U.S. ​warships in the region.

In retaliation, the IRGC navy said on Saturday it targeted three oil tankers travelling unauthorized routes in the strait as well as three additional U.S. vessels in other areas.

The ​three Iranian tankers were Downy, Stark I and Kylo, also known as ​Noxen, maritime intelligence firm Marisks said in a note.

The Saturday attacks represented a “major escalation in the maritime conflict”, ‌Marisks said.

“Commercial ⁠tankers are now being deliberately used as instruments of reciprocal economic pressure, substantially weakening the previous distinction between military confrontation and commercial shipping,” it added.

“Risk is therefore assessed as extreme for Iranian/Iran-linked tonnage and materially elevated for U.S.-linked ​or U.S.-escorted shipping throughout ​the Strait of ⁠Hormuz and Gulf of Oman.”

There have been 27 projectile strike incidents since July 6, resulting in damage to vessels operating in ​and around the Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime ​Trade Operations (UKMTO) ⁠said in its weekly report.

On Sunday, one very large crude carrier and three bulk carriers laden with metals, grains or oilseeds entered the strait, Kpler data showed.

A ⁠tanker ​carrying refined products loaded from a Saudi port attempted ​to exit but was turned back, data from LSEG showed.

There has been no VLCC exiting the strait ​since Wednesday, according to Kpler data.

US and Iranian forces exchanged attacks involving vessels in waters around Iran on Saturday, in a sharp escalation that threatens to further disrupt energy supplies and deepen the conflict between the two countries.

US Central Command said it struck three Iranian oil carriers, including one near Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub, after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired ballistic missiles at two US Navy ships.

“If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost,” US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper said.

The IRGC warned that it would intensify attacks against US military vessels in the region. It later said it had targeted three tankers travelling on unauthorised routes through the Strait of Hormuz, as well as three US-linked vessels in other areas.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that four US missiles struck a tanker near Kharg Island. It said there were no casualties and that the crew was being evacuated.

US Central Command said no American personnel were injured.

The latest exchange follows an escalation over the past week in a conflict that began after US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February. The fighting has disrupted global energy supplies and increased concerns over a wider regional confrontation.

Trump warns over Kharg Island

US President Donald Trump has continued to threaten military action against Iran, even as his administration expands economic sanctions.

On August 31, Trump posted an AI-generated video depicting Kharg Island being destroyed. Iranian authorities have warned of a strong response if the island is attacked.

Iran, the third-largest producer in OPEC, previously exported about 90% of its crude through Kharg Island. Oil flows have been disrupted since the US began a blockade of Iranian oil exports in mid-April.

Trump had previously threatened action against Kharg Island, saying in June that he wanted to take control of it before ruling out a US military operation there.

The US blockade followed Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy route that previously carried about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.

An Iranian tanker ‌was hit by U.S. forces on Saturday near Iran’s key oil export hub, Kharg Island, in the Gulf, the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim reported.

According to a Tasnim correspondent from ​Kharg, the tanker was hit by four U.S. missiles in the ​area of Kharg Island’s anchorage, Reuters reported.

Tasnim quoted local sources as ⁠saying there were no casualties and the tanker’s crew was being evacuated.

There ​was no immediate official announcement by Iranian authorities and U.S. Central Command did not ​immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on August 31 in a one-line social media post accompanied by an AI-generated video that Kharg Island was ​being “blown to smithereens”. Iranian authorities have vowed a strong response if Kharg ​is attacked.

Iran is the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and ‌exported ⁠90% of its crude via Kharg Island before the war, but flows have been disrupted since a U.S. blockade of Iranian oil exports began in mid-April.

Trump said on June 11 that he wanted to take over Kharg Island, ​but then said ​a threatened U.S. ⁠military operation there was off the table for now, days before Tehran and Washington signed an interim agreement aimed at ending ​the war on June 17.

A U.S. attack on ​Kharg would ⁠heap further pressure on Iran’s oil industry and its wider economy, which is already reeling from the U.S. naval blockade.

The U.S. imposed its blockade on ⁠Iranian ports ​after Iran effectively shut the Strait of ​Hormuz, a key waterway that carried one-fifth of the world’s oil supply before the war.