The United States carried out its tenth consecutive night of airstrikes against Iran overnight into Tuesday, July 21, while Tehran responded with fresh attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis dramatically expanded the conflict by announcing a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia. It’s an escalation that doesn’t seem likely to end any time soon, with Iranian forces apparently hell-bent on targeting any U.S.-linked infrastructure or military sites within reach.
The threat has also broadened, with Iran now leaning on its proxies to support its resistance. Yemen’s Houthis are now looking to threaten the Red Sea, threatening to disrupt the Gulf’s remaining export routes in the short and medium term.
Iran’s Drones That Russia Is Using. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Iran F-14 Tomcat Fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
According to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), U.S. aircraft struck Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch systems, and more air defense systems during an operation that concluded at roughly 9 pm Eastern Time on Monday. CENTCOM once again said the strikes were intended to reduce Iran’s ability to continue attacking commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, but the continued fighting appears to be contributing to a major slowdown in traffic through the strait, once again risking a global oil crisis.
Iran Continues Attacks On Hormuz
Even after ten nights of escalating strikes by U.S. forces, Iran shows little sign of easing pressure on international shipping or dialing back its strikes on its Gulf neighbors.
Early on Tuesday, Iranian forces attacked another commercial tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, forcing its crew to abandon the vessel after it sustained significant damage.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received multiple reports over VHF Channel 16 that the tanker had been struck by an unknown projectile approximately eight nautical miles east of Limah, Oman.
The crew was evacuated into a lifeboat as authorities began investigating the attack, while Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps later claimed responsibility and also asserted that it had attacked two additional commercial vessels in the waterway on Monday.
It’s yet another sign that U.S. efforts to destroy missile launchers and naval assets have not yet secured the strait, and indeed that those efforts may fail to secure it any time soon.
Tehran still retains the capability to threaten one of the world’s busiest maritime chokepoints, and it is now using its proxies throughout the region to cause more pain on other transit routes.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence reported that commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has now fallen to just a handful of daily transits – a disaster for the global economy, and news that, if sustained, could plunge the world into an oil supply crisis within a matter of days or weeks.
More Than Hormuz
Iran also continued targeting states supportive of the United States across the Gulf. Kuwaiti authorities confirmed that Iranian strikes hit several electricity generation and water desalination facilities on Monday, igniting fires before emergency crews brought them under control.
Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said the fires had been extinguished and repair work was underway, although the attacks are expected to continue and now put the Gulf’s critical desalination plants at risk – along with the millions of people who depend on them for drinking water.
It’s clear after last night’s strikes that Tehran is now working to broaden its campaign beyond military targets, too, placing increased pressure on civilian infrastructure and commercial shipping at the same time.
Tehran is proving that it has more leverage than just the Strait of Hormuz.
Houthis Open A Second Front
Having lost much of its conventional military capabilities, Iran is leaning on asymmetric warfare to ensure the regime’s survival.
After proving it can continue to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz, it is now leaning on Yemen’s Houthi movement to implement a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia.
Per Houthi statements, the group accuses Saudi Arabia of participating in aggression against Yemen and declared that Saudi shipping would now be treated as a legitimate target.
It is a significant and worrisome development as it effectively closes off much of the Gulf oil exports through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait – one of the world’s other critical maritime chokepoints.
The threat could have significant consequences that reach far beyond Saudi Arabia itself. Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is already severely reduced, and Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline has become one of the few remaining routes capable of moving Gulf crude oil to international markets without entering the Gulf.
The pipeline carries crude roughly 750 miles from the kingdom’s oil fields in the east to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
Tankers using this port must transit the Bab el-Mandeb Strait before reaching Europe and other global markets. Last night’s aggression, then, could be a sign of far worse yet to come.
About the Author: Jack Buckby
Jack Buckby is a British researcher and analyst specializing in defense and national security, based in New York. His work focuses on military capability, procurement, and strategic competition, producing and editing analysis for policy and defense audiences. He brings extensive editorial experience, with a career output spanning over 1,000 articles at 19FortyFive and National Security Journal, and has previously authored books and papers on extremism and deradicalization.
