U.S. Strikes Expand Into Northern Iran As It Disables Ship Trying To Run Blockade

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States intensified its attacks against Iran early Thursday, hitting targets further north as American forces also opened fire on a ship it accused of trying to break a naval blockade of the Islamic Republic. Iran retaliated before dawn with missile and drone fire targeting Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait.

Mutual attacks between the USA and Iran in the Middle East that lasted for days and new threats against Iran Strait of Hormuz – It shattered the interim agreement aimed at ending the Iran war and could plunge the region back into all-out war. Iranian officials say more than 35 people have already been killed and more than 300 injured in US strikes. The attacks have also reached the regions around Tehran, the capital of Iran, for the first time in these latest violent incidents.

When the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, Tehran effectively closed the strait to ship traffic. Prices of oil, fertilizer and many other products are rising It was far beyond the region and gave Iran a huge advantage in negotiations.

These rising prices poses a particular challenge for US President Donald Trump and his Republican Party hope to retain control of Congress in the November elections. But Washington struggled to successfully reopen the waterway, prompting Trump to reimpose a naval blockade on Wednesday.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator, said Iran was ready for a more comprehensive military conflict if the United States did not comply with the terms of the interim agreement, and Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards threatened to halt all energy exports from the Middle East because of the blockade.

“Oil and natural gas exports from the region will either be for everyone or for no one,” said Guard.

Trump once again emphasized that Iran is ready to sign a peace agreement, but did not provide details.

“They don’t like what we’re doing and they want to get along. We’ll find out if we can get along with them, or we’ll be finished,” he said Wednesday at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania.

Trump also said on social media that Tehran made a goodwill gesture by releasing an American citizen who has been unjustly detained in Iran since 2024. He did not release further details. Human rights lawyer Jared Genser released a statement identifying the detainee as his client, Dena Karari, a US-Iranian citizen who runs a nonprofit organization and is accused of espionage.

Iran did not immediately agree to his release, and as is sometimes the case with detainees in the Islamic Republic, his case was not made public.

According to reports in state media, US attacks in the early hours of Thursday hit the area around Tehran. It was also reported that the American attacks targeted the Semnan province, which hosts Iran’s ballistic missile production and space program.

On Wednesday, the United States continued to strike Iran during daylight hours, further highlighting the increasing tempo of attacks. Central Command said that Iran’s defense and missile sites were targeted in the attack on Great Tunb Island, a strategic point in the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, the US army announced that it opened fire on the Curaçao-flagged oil tanker Belma. Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf. After the ship “ignored multiple warnings”, a US aircraft fired a missile into the ship’s funnel, disabling the merchant ship.

Another attack on Wednesday targeted the barracks of Iran’s 388th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, which operates tanks and armored vehicles, in Sistan and Baluchistan province, Iranian state television reported. The report stated that the Americans fired at least 13 missiles in the attack and that seven of the dead were conscripts and career soldiers. Many soldiers were injured.

Iran retaliated Thursday with missile and drone strikes on Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, officials in countries where U.S. forces are based said. There has been no statement yet regarding damage or loss of life in the attacks.

The final challenge round focuses on: Strait of Hormuz. How to reopen the strait has baffled the United States since Iran blocked the strait in the early days of the war.

During the interim agreement, some ships began transiting the pass using a route near Oman that is controlled by the U.S. military, outside Tehran’s control.

In recent days, Iran has attacked ships using this route, followed by attacks back and forth. There is USA He threatened to open the strait by force – but experts say this would require a much larger navy, if not tens of thousands of ground troops. Enforcing the blockade is another way to pressure Iran.

But in the meantime, oil prices are also rising. The price of Brent crude oil, which is the international standard, traded above $85 per barrel on Thursday — 15% higher than the pre-war price, but still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the conflict.