three vessels were attacked in the strait of hormuz on july 7 — a qatari gas carrier, a saudi crude tanker, and a third ship — the largest single-day incident count since the june us-iran peace deal took effect. at least four tankers subsequently diverted away from the strait and the threat level was raised to severe. an escalation of this scale in the world's most important energy chokepoint, weeks after a peace deal, is structurally unusual.