US orders petroleum reserve release in bid to calm markets – as it happened

This blog is now closed - follow the latest news and live updates in the Middle East crisis here Iraq’s oil ports have completely stopped operations while commercial ports continue to operate after an attack on a fuel tanker, an Iraqi official has said. Farhan Al-Fartousi, the head of Iraq’s General Company for Ports, also told Al-Iraqiya News that one crew member was killed and 38 had been rescued, according to state news agency INA. He said a search for the missing was continuing. Iraqi port security officials had said, as reported earlier, that two foreign tankers carrying Iraqi fuel oil were in flames after being attacked by Iranian boats laden with explosives. Al-Fartousi said a tanker loaded with petroleum products was in the process of loading when it was involved in an “incident”, the INA report said, also saying: double quotation markHe added that “one of the smaller tankers involved flies the Maltese flag” noting that the vessel was hit by an explosion, though it remains unclear whether it was a direct strike or a waterborne improvised explosive device (suicide boat). Al-Fartousi said the tankers were about 30 miles (48km) off the Iraqi coast. The Iraqi govern