The tension with Iran has led to an increase in attacks on small commercial ships. Data provided by BBC Verify shows that new attacks have mainly occurred from October 5th to October 11th, when there was recorded the highest number of confrontations. The number of incidents has also increased after America enhanced protection for ships through the Persian Gulf, but the return of commercial ships to the Mediterranean remains limited. This is due to increasing Iranian influence over international naval operations. Iran claims it is seeking to enhance its own influence in the Persian Gulf by attacking vessels to demonstrate its power.

Moreover, its agents have continued to attack merchant ships in distant Persian Gulf areas, such as the Indian Ocean Sea Area. This situation has led to a reduction of oil traffic through the Persian Gulf with approximately 12.6 million barrels of oil passing through the Persian Gulf on October 13th compared to 15 million barrels of oil at the end of the previous week. This is an increase of remarkable proportions over pre-war levels, which were close to 17 million barrels of oil per day.

The growth of attacks against merchant ships has caused a significant reduction in oil traffic through the Persian Gulf, with a decrease of 10% compared to the summer before.

This phenomenon occurs precisely when America is increasing protection of its ships through the Persian Gulf, attempting to avoid terrorist attacks. These consequences have been highlighted by some images and videos provided by the BBC News. For example, a commercial Venezuelan ship, Petro Dolphin, was hit by a drone less than 250 kilometers from the Persian Gulf where it had been detained after an navigation accident. Rescuers were revived, but two sailors remained missing. Iran has declared that the cargo ship GFS Pride, which suffered an attack, was on a route unauthorized, transporting '2,500 containers of smuggling'.

This has led to the creation of a video by the Islamic Guard of the Revolution Iran, which stated that the commercial ship was traveling on an unauthorized route, carrying "2,500 containers of smuggling".