The US is likely to come under pressure to tackle historically high levels of shadow fleet shipments of sanctioned Iranian oil as a price for reining in Israeli retaliation against Tehran, according to analysts.

Iran exported 1.5m barrels per day of crude in March despite measures by the US to crack down on the trade.

The seizure of the 15,000-teu MSC Aries (built 2020) by Iranian forces and an attack against Israel involving hundreds of missiles and drones at the weekend has left oil markets awaiting the next steps in the conflict with trepidation.