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DUBAI : Iran attacked a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday, forcing its crew to abandon the ship even as the United States conducted yet-another round of airstrikes targeting the Islamic Republic over control of the key waterway.
The 10 consecutive nights of US airstrikes haven’t compelled Tehran into loosening its grip on the strait, through which about a fifth of all crude oil and natural gas traded once passed in peacetime.
Even as the US and Iran inch closer to all-out war again, Iran’s interior minister traveled to Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict, for talks. However, it remains unclear just what new deal could be reached to end the fighting.
“Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other U.S. interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world,” the U.S. State Department said in a new warning to Americans.
The escalation has pushed oil prices higher in recent weeks. Benchmark Brent crude traded Tuesday above $88 a barrel and regular gasoline in the U.S. climbed to an average of $4 a gallon, keeping pressure on Americans’ wallets ahead of midterm elections this fall.
Trump was planning to attend a ceremony on Tuesday evening at Dover Air Force Base, where at least one service member’s remains were due to arrive.
The U.S. military’s Central Command said Tuesday it targeted “Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and air defense systems.” It released more footage of bombings that targeted sites in Iran.
“American forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression toward civilian mariners seeking to freely and openly transit the strait,” the command said.
However, traffic through the strait has slowed to crawl with the latest violence. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said a tanker came under attack early Tuesday in the strait off Oman, forcing the crew to abandon the vessel.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed the attack, as well as two other attacks on ships Monday in the waterway.
The route around Oman has been the one the U.S. military has encouraged ships to travel to avoid Iran’s control.
Tehran also hit U.S.-allied countries throughout the Middle East.
Kuwait said its air defenses fired at an incoming barrage, and Jordan’s armed forces said Monday evening they had shot down three Iranian missiles, adding that there had been no material damage or casualties. Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry condemned Iranian drone strikes targeting the country’s air traffic systems, saying they endanger travel for civilians.
The Pentagon’s chief spokesman said nearly 100 U.S. service members have been injured since the U.S. restarted strikes on July 7, and 96% of them have returned to duty.
“The vast majority of injuries experienced were minor concussions,” Sean Parnell posted Monday on X in response to a New York Times report that the Pentagon has withheld information about troop injuries from Iranian strikes. He denied that the Pentagon was hiding data about injuries.
However, the Defense Casualty Analysis System, the military’s clearinghouse for reporting deaths and injuries in conflict, has not been updated as of Monday night with the latest attacks.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia on Monday. The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, said they would block shipping between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden by targeting the Bab el-Mandeb, a maritime chokepoint like the Strait of Hormuz, in response to an attack on Sanaa International Airport last week that they blamed on Saudi Arabia.
With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, Saudi Arabia has been relying on a pipeline to the Red Sea to get millions of barrels of oil out to market. The Houthis earlier demonstrated their ability to disrupt shipping there when they targeted ships for months over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, with over 100 vessels attacked.
Saudi Arabia’s military said it would keep the waterway open.
“All Houthi threats against transiting vessels will be dealt with swiftly and firmly, as such threats are a blatant violation of international law and fall under acts of maritime piracy,” said Maj. Gen, Turki al-Malki, a Saudi military spokesman.
Pakistan has intensified diplomatic efforts in recent days to resuscitate the interim deal.
Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni arrived in Islamabad on Monday for two days of talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and others.
On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the U.S. is still open to negotiating with Iran but that “it has to be real.”
“If the door opens to diplomacy — if the guys that want to do something productive for Iran win and take control of that system, or take control of the negotiations — that’ll be a very positive development,” Rubio said. “That’s not where we are tonight, unfortunately.”
Iranian authorities on Sunday said at least 50 people have been killed and 517 wounded in the latest rounds of U.S. strikes. Since the war began on Feb. 28, 17 U.S. service members have been killed. (AP)
