U.S. Strikes Iran for Third Night as Fighting Spreads Across the Gulf
Tehran hits tankers and a U.S. Navy vessel as Trump moves to blockade the Strait of Hormuz and demands Gulf nations foot the bill
The United States launched a third consecutive night of airstrikes against Iran, while Tehran retaliated by targeting U.S. military facilities in the region and firing on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, according to CNBC and PBS NewsHour.
The escalation threatens a critical artery for global oil supplies and has begun rattling energy markets, giving the widening conflict a direct stake for American consumers and allies across the Persian Gulf.
The United Arab Emirates' Defense Ministry said Iran fired cruise missiles at two of its tankers, the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah, in the strait's southern shipping lane, killing one crew member and wounding at least eight others before the resulting fires were extinguished, according to the Washington Examiner and The Hill. Iranian state media reported explosions in Kish, Qeshm and Bandar Abbas as U.S. strikes continued, Al Jazeera reported, and PBS NewsHour said Iran also fired a missile at a U.S. Navy ship.
President Donald Trump formally notified Congress that fighting between the U.S. and Iran had resumed and said the U.S. would reimpose a naval blockade on Iranian ports and impose a 20% fee on cargo transiting the Strait of Hormuz, according to PBS NewsHour and The Hill. Trump argued that wealthy Gulf nations should reimburse Washington for securing the waterway, saying "I want to be reimbursed because we're protecting a very rich portion of the world," according to the Washington Examiner. Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper called the blockade "the right move," The Hill reported.
Trump also threatened further strikes on what he called "Pickaxe Mountain," a heavily fortified underground nuclear facility inside Iran, and accused The New York Times of wanting the U.S. to lose the war, Fox News reported.
Brent crude neared $85 a barrel, a one-month high, as traders weighed the risk of a prolonged closure of the strait, through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil passes, according to CNBC. Pakistan has continued urging dialogue between Washington and Tehran, though analysts told Al Jazeera Islamabad has few tools left to halt the escalation after trust between the two adversaries broke down again.
— Compiled from reporting by CNBC, Al Jazeera, PBS NewsHour, the Washington Examiner and The Hill.