Iran stepping up Hormuz shipping attacks ahead of US midterms, officials tell Reuters

Iran is deploying new tactics against ships in the Strait of Hormuz as it seeks to keep oil prices high and influence the November US midterm elections, two senior Iranian officials told Reuters in a report dated 14 October.

What the officials said

• Tehran began using different offensive tactics about 10 days ago against vessels it considers in violation of its restrictions, one official said, and attacks have risen.
• One goal, they said, is to frustrate US and allied efforts to bring down global oil prices and to affect the midterm vote that will decide control of Congress.
• Both officials said Iran is moving toward a situation in which no vessel violating its rules can pass — “complete closure soon,” one said — and that operations would expand beyond Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman and further afield.

Supporting context (not Iranian claims alone)

• Independent maritime analysis and UKMTO-reported incidents point to at least five tanker and commercial-ship incidents around Hormuz in the past 48 hours, roughly matching an earlier peak on 3–5 October, Reuters said.
• A US military official, speaking anonymously, said Iranian forces have used unarmed spotters in small boats after radar losses, and that US forces last week confronted and destroyed a dhow used for spotting, with no casualties.
• The US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center rated the threat to merchant shipping in Hormuz as “severe” in its latest Sunday report.

The Pentagon and Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. President Trump has said he will not attack Iran again before the midterms. Claims by Iranian officials about election influence are reported as such; they are not independently verified.