Tankers turn back as Gulf attacks widen trade route crisis

The Middle East conflict widened Tuesday and Wednesday as two Saudi crude tankers bound for Asia turned back in the Red Sea after Yemen’s Houthis announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia, Al Jazeera reported. The reported closure of the Bab al-Mandeb strait, alongside disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Israel war on Iran, is adding pressure to major global trade routes.

The military exchanges also intensified. US Central Command said it completed an 11th straight night of attacks on Iran at 00:15 GMT on Wednesday, while Iranian authorities and state-linked media reported strikes across several provinces.

US says it hit Iranian military sites

CENTCOM said its latest strikes targeted Iranian military operations centres, maritime assets, aircraft hangars, drone storage sites and logistics infrastructure. The command said the attacks were meant to reduce Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

CENTCOM also claimed Iran had attacked more than 30 commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz over the past three months. Iran’s Fars news agency, citing the deputy governor of Khuzestan province, said US missile attacks hit areas near Behbahan and Omidiyeh in southwestern Iran.

Fars also reported a US attack on a military site on the outskirts of Tabriz in northwestern Iran. Al Jazeera’s Tohid Assidi, reporting from Tehran, said explosions were heard in Tabriz, air defences were activated in Tehran and two blasts were heard in Bushehr.

Iran’s IRIB state broadcaster said officials confirmed attacks on Chabahar and Konarak in southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province. IRIB also reported US air attacks in Kabudarahang County in Hamadan province, in Chavar and Abdanan in Ilam province, and in western Kurdistan province.

Iran reports drone attacks on US-linked bases

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Wednesday that “the operation to punish the aggressor continues,” according to IRIB. Iranian outlets reported drone attacks on facilities used by US forces in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain.

Tasnim, a semi-official Iranian news agency, said Iran’s military launched drones at US military facilities at Camp Doha in western Kuwait. Mehr News Agency said Iran’s military stated that it targeted Muwaffaq Salti Airbase in Azraq, Jordan, with drones aimed at housing, welfare buildings and equipment warehouses used by the US army.

Mehr also reported that the Iranian statement said drones targeted Bahrain’s Isa Airbase, including equipment warehouses, sheds and heavy aircraft maintenance and repair facilities. The claims could not be independently verified from the available accounts.

US reports another soldier believed killed

The US Department of Defense said Wednesday that a third US soldier is believed to have been killed during an Iranian strike on Muwaffaq Salti Airbase in Jordan on July 17. The department said the 28-year-old had earlier been listed as missing, but the status was changed to “Duty Status -Whereabouts Unknown, believed deceased.”

Two other soldiers were killed in that attack on the Jordan base, according to the Pentagon. Another US soldier was killed in Iraq last week while trying to detonate explosives on an Iranian drone, bringing the reported US military death toll to 18 since the war on Iran began on February 28.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Manila that Washington remains willing to engage, negotiate and settle differences. “If they’re serious, we’re serious. If they’re not, then we will do what’s necessary to protect our interests and also the interests of our allies,” Rubio told Southeast Asian counterparts.

In Washington, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators the war had cost the US military $37.5bn so far. He asked lawmakers to approve another $67bn to replenish depleted missile supplies.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.