US attacks Iran as IRGC claims strikes on US military sites in Gulf
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- CENTCOM ran a seven-hour operation ending at 10pm EDT Tuesday, with fighter aircraft, drones and naval vessels striking "dozens of military targets near the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian coastal areas," while explosions were reported in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm, Hengam, Sirik and Bushehr
- Iran's IRGC claimed overnight attacks on US military assets in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, asserting it inflicted heavy damage on the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and destroyed shelters housing F-15, F-16 and F-35 fighter jets along with several MQ-9 drones
- Jordan's military said its air defenses intercepted and shot down three Iranian ballistic missiles that entered Jordanian airspace early Wednesday
- President Trump told Fox News the strikes "will continue until I say enough," warning that potential future targets could include power plants, bridges and "energy targets"
- The US resumed its naval blockade of vessels travelling to or from Iranian ports effective 20:00 GMT Tuesday, deploying roughly 21 vessels to enforce it and also pledging to protect traffic through the Omani shipping route
- Brent crude climbed to $86.19 a barrel by 00:29 GMT Wednesday, up sharply from near $70 before the latest escalation, as roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments transit the Strait of Hormuz daily
- The US Treasury froze more than $130 million by sanctioning several cryptocurrency wallets linked to Iran's central bank
Why it matters: The escalation is dragging in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE as Iranian missiles and claimed strikes spill beyond Iran's borders, while Trump openly names energy infrastructure as a future target. With roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments transiting the Strait of Hormuz daily, Brent's jump from near $70 to $86.19 quantifies how markets are pricing the supply-disruption risk.
