U.S.-Iran Talks Are Still at a Stalemate. Attacks Against Tankers in the Hormuz Strait Reached a Record.

Attacks against tankers in the Strait of Hormuz reached a record for the U.S.-Iran war last week, new data shows.

The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said in a note that the figure reached 12 in the week that ended on October 5, the highest figure since the war began in late February.

"These actions continue to demonstrate Iran's ⁠intent to assert presence along key transit lanes and maintain pressure ​on transiting vessels," it added.

Tehran claimed on Wednesday that the waterway will remain closed as the two countries remain far from a deal.

Mohammad Reza Naghdi, senior adviser to the commander-in-chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, said the country's "armed forces have full control over it." "This situation will continue until Iran's legitimate demands are met," Naghdi added.

In contrast, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that Tehran has "lost complete control" of the Strait of Hormuz and is unable to prevent ships from going through the waterway.

"The Strait of Hormuz is open. There's almost as much oil flowing out now as there was before this conflict began," he added.

A recent report claimed that some sailors are being offered as much as $25,000 for individual trips through the Strait of Hormuz as oil producers try to keep crude moving out of the Persian Gulf despite continuing attacks on commercial shipping.

The Wall Street Journal detailed that a ship staffing company in China's Shandong province was offering up to $25,000 for a round trip. The payments can amount to two or three times a sailor's normal monthly salary, with workers from India, the Philippines and China among those being recruited for the voyages.

Oil producers have increasingly relied on very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, to conduct what the Journal described as "shuttle runs." The vessels enter the Persian Gulf through Hormuz, load oil at ports inside the Gulf and travel back through the strait before transferring their cargo to another vessel waiting outside the waterway.

The trips have become extraordinarily expensive. The Journal reported that some shuttle voyages can cost as much as $40 million as shipowners demand higher rates to compensate for the risks of entering the region.