The US military launched the 13th night of strikes Thursday against Iran, targeting key military and commercial sites as clashes continued to escalate over shipping routes. The attacks came after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militias said they targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, potentially widening the Iran war as international oil topped $100 a barrel.
Shortly after the new attacks were announced, Iranian state media reported explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas, a critical hub for moving military supplies as well as trade cargo, where two people were reportedly injured.
Blasts were also reported on Qeshm Island, home to stores of naval assets including drone boats that Iran can use to attack vessels on the Strait of Hormuz, as well as to the northwest near Andimeshk, Omidiyeh and Firuzabad. Four people were killed and five wounded in a US missile attack on the outskirts of Ahvaz on the Karun River, Iranian state media said.
US Central Command said the latest barrage was designed to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters” as the Americans push to regain control over the strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas transited in peacetime. It said the strikes ended shortly before 5 a.m. local time Friday.
President Donald Trump threatened “major military punishment” against the Houthis if their attacks on ships continue.
“If they do this again, the US will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves,” Trump wrote on social media.
As the rhetoric escalated, so did the economic fallout. The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, spiked more than 6% to about $100 a barrel. That's the highest level since May, before the two sides reached a preliminary peace agreement last month that has since collapsed.
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi of Iraq, which has close ties to both the US and Iran, was in Tehran on Thursday to call for peace and dialogue, and he promised not to allow Iraqi territory to be used for attacks on Iran, his office said. Al-Zaidi met with Trump earlier this month in Washington.
Bab el-Mandeb, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is a vital shipping chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Around 12% of the world’s trade, including a fourth of global container traffic, passes through there, moving between Europe and Asia via Egypt’s Suez Canal.
Both sides dig in over Strait of Hormuz
Iran says it has the right to manage traffic and potentially charge fees in the Strait of Hormuz, which was open to all toll-free before the war. It has attacked ships using a route through the strait that is overseen by US forces and intended to be outside Tehran’s control.
Trump said on social media Thursday that sanctioned Iranian funds in the possession of the US will cover the expense of fixing boats damaged in the war.
“Please let this statement serve to represent, until further notice, that from this point forth, any and all damages done to Ships, Cargo, or anything related thereto, will be paid for by Iranian Money that the United States has in its possession, and controls,” Trump said.
It was unclear what legal mechanisms Trump would use to seize and spend the funds, but he said that doing so would be “the fair and equitable thing to do.”
Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, said such a seizure of assets would be an “incendiary” precedent.
"Those who celebrate or profit from such funds should remember: once governments normalize confiscation, no one’s assets are safe," Abbas Araghchi said on social media early Friday. “Ensuing chaos will not be pretty or peaceful.”
In response to Iran’s attacks, the US began the widening campaign of strikes across Iran and restored a naval blockade of Iran's ports. US Central Command said it has redirected about a dozen commercial vessels and disabled one since the blockade resumed.
The war of words has also escalated. Araghchi said Tehran would adopt an “eye for an eye” policy on US strikes against its infrastructure. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio retorted that Trump's policy is “a head for an eye.”
“The price will continue to get higher every single night until they come to their senses,” Rubio told reporters while traveling in the Philippines for a regional summit.
Iran’s health ministry said Thursday that 55 people have been killed and 629 have been wounded since renewed US airstrikes began on June 27.
Iran has responded to US attacks by targeting energy infrastructure and desalination plants providing drinking water in neighboring Gulf countries.
Polls have shown the war is unpopular among Americans, a fact reflected in the narrow passage Thursday of a resolution in the US House to halt the war. Though a handful of Republicans crossed party lines to support the measure, the vote remained largely symbolic.
