Iran targeted a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz as it widened its war with the United States amid a crumbling ceasefire and climbing gas prices. Iran on Saturday attacked a feeder container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz. British security monitors reported the vessel had been set afire, and the crew abandoned ship. The 7000-TEU GFS Galaxy is owned by a company out of the United Arab Emirates and was exiting the strait on a service calling Jebel Ali and Dammam in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to Port Klang, Malaysia, Dachan Bay, Xiamen and Qingdao, China, and Busan, South Korea. The incident marks the first attack on container shipping in the strait since May 6, when crew members were injured in an attack on the CMA CGM San Antonio. Iran over the weekend declared the strait closed to vessel traffic, and expanded missile and drone attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Jordan. The U.S. has stepped up its response, including large-scale assaults on Iranian refineries. The U.S. Central Command in a social media post Sunday said that more than 140 vessels had transited the waterway in the past seven days. Iran has pushed energy prices higher over the weekend by raising fears of supply disruption in the Middle East, especially around the Strait of Hormuz, which handles a large share of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows. Brent crude futures were up about 12% since Friday, European natural gas jumped nearly 70% since Friday, while…
