Gulf conflict escalates as strikes and Hormuz tensions intensify

Fighting across the Gulf region sharpened on Tuesday as Iran and the United States traded fresh strikes, tanker attacks disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and both sides pressed competing claims over control of the vital waterway.

Iranian army spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said the strait will never open through what he called war, evil and American aggression. He said Iran’s armed forces would not back down over the waterway and argued that respect for the rights of the Iranian people represents the only path toward reopening it. He also said the country remains bound to avenge those killed in the conflict, singling out the slain leader of the Islamic Revolution.

The remarks came a day after President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that the United States would reinstate a naval blockade of Iran and impose a twenty percent fee on all cargo passing through Hormuz. Trump wrote that the strait remains open and will stay open regardless of Iran’s position, and said the United States would now serve as what he termed the guardian of the strait, entitled to compensation for that role. Iran’s top joint military command rejected any American role in deciding the waterway’s future and said Washington would not be permitted to intervene. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on social media that Tehran considers itself the eternal guardian of the strait and dismissed the proposed fee as excessive, saying Iran would act fairly in response.

The United Nations shipping agency also pushed back against the toll proposal, stating it opposes any fees on straits used for international navigation and arguing no legal basis exists for mandatory transit charges. German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd said charging fees for passage through international waters would be fundamentally wrong and told reporters it could not reliably estimate how regional tensions have affected its operations.

Violence escalated sharply overnight. Iran’s army said it struck American communication systems, fuel depots, a Patriot missile system, a control tower and an ammunition warehouse at a US base in Kuwait using explosive-laden drones, while its navy fired cruise missiles at what it described as a hostile American vessel. The Revolutionary Guards separately said Iranian forces disabled two tankers in the strait after the vessels ignored warnings, shut off their navigation systems and attempted to pass through a mined route, accusing Washington of encouraging ships to use an illegal passage.

The United Arab Emirates Defence Ministry confirmed that Iranian cruise missiles struck two Emirati oil tankers, the Mombasa B and Al Bahyah, in the southern lane of the strait while the vessels sat in Omani waters. One Indian crew member died aboard the Mombasa, and eight others suffered injuries, four of them serious, among a mixed group of Indian and Ukrainian nationals. Fires broke out on both vessels before crews brought them under control. The UAE condemned the assault as a blatant attack and said it retains full rights to respond. Kuwait’s foreign ministry separately denounced the strikes as reprehensible and a flagrant violation of international law, expressing solidarity with the UAE and calling for an end to regional fighting.

Britain’s maritime trade agency reported a separate incident in which an unidentified projectile struck a tanker’s engine room roughly forty nautical miles northeast of Oman’s Qalhat, though the vessel’s crew remained unharmed. Iran’s Fars news agency also reported that authorities rescued twenty three foreign crew members after a bulk carrier collided with another vessel near Qeshm Island, forcing an emergency evacuation as the damaged ship began taking on water.

Iranian territory also came under fire. A deputy governor in Khuzestan province said American strikes wounded four people in the city of Omidiyeh in the early hours of Tuesday. Explosions were also reported in Bandar Abbas, on Kish and Qeshm islands, on Abu Musa Island and in Bushehr province, though authorities did not immediately clarify exact locations or report additional casualties. Bahrain said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed Iranian aerial attacks over the kingdom, according to a royal media adviser.

Iran separately told the UN Security Council in a letter that the United States has systematically undermined the Islamabad memorandum of understanding since its signing, accusing Washington of failing to honor its commitments. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also said missiles struck a US air base in Jordan, urging Jordanians to dismantle American installations in the kingdom while stressing they held no hostility toward the Jordanian people. Jordan’s military said it intercepted four missiles that entered its airspace from Iranian territory.

In Lebanon, Israeli strikes continued despite an existing ceasefire, with explosions reported near Yahmar al-Shqif and in Kfar Tebnit, along with the demolition of homes in Majdel Zoun and Haddatha and artillery fire on Bayut al-Siyad.

Maritime monitor TankerTrackers said Iran has exported more than eighty million barrels of crude and refined products worth roughly six billion dollars over the past month, though it estimated around thirty million barrels remain undeparted as the renewed blockade takes hold. Oil prices climbed nearly three percent on Tuesday to a four week high, with Brent crude trading near eighty five dollars a barrel and US crude near eighty dollars, extending gains from the previous session’s sharp rally.

The US embassy in Abu Dhabi and consulate in Dubai canceled consular appointments through Wednesday citing the security situation, as the widening conflict continued to disrupt regional shipping and diplomacy alike.