Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Monday they struck US military assets across the Middle East following another night of American bombardment against Iranian cities, extending a cycle of attacks that has effectively unraveled a fragile interim ceasefire.
Oil prices briefly climbed above 90 dollars a barrel after fresh disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, before easing somewhat once Iran’s Foreign Ministry said mediators had recently submitted proposals to Tehran, a sign that diplomatic channels remain open despite the fighting.
President Donald Trump, facing growing political pressure at home over rising gasoline prices, defended the latest round of strikes as a direct response to the deaths of as many as three American service members in recent Iranian attacks.
The conflict has widened to include strikes on desalination facilities, raising concerns about potential water shortages across parts of the Gulf and opening a new front in a war that increasingly threatens civilian infrastructure. Bahrain’s Civil Aviation Authority said Monday that Iran had targeted the kingdom’s civil air navigation systems, though it said flight operations and air traffic continued normally.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said two oil tankers exploded and became immobilized after attempting to pass through the strait via what it called an unsafe route. The claim followed a similar statement from the Guard a day earlier describing an accident involving two ships in the same area, though it remained unclear whether the two incidents were connected. The statement did not identify the vessels involved or mention any casualties, and the report could not be independently verified.
In a separate incident, an unidentified projectile struck a vessel off the coast of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency. The agency said the ship remained adrift but that its crew were safe.
US Central Command said its forces carried out a ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran, aimed at degrading the country’s ability to threaten commercial vessels moving through the strait’s key shipping lanes. The command did not provide additional details on the targets struck.
The widening campaign underscores how difficult it has become to contain a conflict that began with strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites and has since expanded to touch civilian infrastructure, regional shipping lanes and now, potentially, water security for millions of people across the Gulf. Attacks on desalination plants carry particular weight in a region where several nations rely heavily on seawater conversion for drinking water, given limited access to fresh water sources inland. Continued disruption to tanker traffic through Hormuz, a corridor that carries a substantial share of the world’s oil supply, has already rattled energy markets and threatens to keep prices volatile as long as the fighting continues. Diplomats involved in the mediation effort have offered few details on the substance of the latest proposals presented to Tehran, leaving uncertain whether the renewed contacts can produce a durable halt to the hostilities before the conflict inflicts further damage on the region’s infrastructure and economy.
