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The U.S. military announced Thursday it is executing the 13th consecutive night of airstrikes targeting Iranian positions as regional tensions mount over control of critical shipping corridors. The escalation follows reports that Yemen’s Houthi militia, backed by Tehran, struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, marking a significant widening of hostilities that has sent international crude prices surging past $100 per barrel.
U.S. Central Command characterized the strikes as aimed at undermining Iran’s capacity to endanger merchant mariners and commercial shipping in the region. American forces are working to reassert dominance over the Strait of Hormuz and restore unimpeded global commerce, with Iranian state television subsequently reporting explosions near Bandar Abbas, Qeshm, and other locations along the waterway.
President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to the Houthis on social media, vowing “major military punishment” should attacks on vessels persist. Trump framed the militant group as an Iranian proxy, pledging that both the Houthis and Iran would face severe consequences if shipping strikes continue.
Brent crude oil jumped more than 6 percent Thursday, reaching levels not seen since May before a recently collapsed preliminary peace accord. The price surge underscores the economic ripple effects of the intensifying conflict as markets react to disrupted supply chains and threatened trade routes.
The Houthi SABA news agency reported the militants attacked the tankers Encelia and Layla in the Red Sea, igniting fires aboard both vessels. The strikes represent the first documented Houthi assault since the group announced a blockade of Saudi-connected shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait earlier in the week, retaliating against Saudi Arabia’s blockade of Yemen and a recent strike on Sanaa airport.
Maritime analysts at Lloyd’s List Intelligence characterized the Houthi campaign as a “double whammy,” compounding disruptions already caused by closed Persian Gulf routes. Saudi Arabia has redirected millions of barrels daily through the Red Sea port of Yanbu via overland pipeline, but the new rebel threat now jeopardizes that alternative corridor.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, positioned at the Arabian Peninsula’s southern edge, represents a crucial chokepoint linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Approximately 12 percent of global trade, including a quarter of container shipments, transits the waterway between Europe and Asia via Egypt’s Suez Canal.
Iran maintains it holds authority over the Strait of Hormuz and may levy transit fees, a position it has reinforced through attacks on vessels using U.S.-overseen shipping lanes. Trump announced Thursday that damage to ships during the conflict would be compensated using Iranian assets currently held by the United States, though the legal mechanism for such payments remained unclear.
In response to Iranian attacks, the U.S. has expanded its strike campaign and reinstated a naval blockade of Iranian ports, redirecting approximately a dozen commercial vessels and disabling one since the embargo resumed. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi pledged Tehran would adopt an “eye for an eye” stance on American infrastructure strikes, prompting U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to counter that Trump’s doctrine represents “a head for an eye.”
Iran’s health ministry reported Thursday that 55 people have died and 629 have been wounded since intensified American airstrikes commenced June 27. Iran has retaliated by targeting energy installations and desalination facilities in neighboring Gulf nations struggling with water scarcity.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi traveled to Tehran on Thursday to advocate for diplomatic resolution, pledging that Iraqi territory would not be used as a staging ground for attacks on Iran. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cautioned that the region faces being drawn “into an ever-widening circle of confrontation,” urging diplomacy as the sole viable path forward.
The U.S. House narrowly approved a resolution Thursday to halt the conflict, with several Republicans defecting from party lines, though the measure remained largely symbolic given widespread public opposition to the war reflected in polling data.
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