IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — — The U.S. military said Friday it opened fire on another commercial tanker attempting to push through Washington’s blockade of Iranian ports, as Iran continued striking American-linked positions around the Persian Gulf.
After 13 consecutive nights of attacks, neither Washington nor Tehran appeared ready to step back from the confrontation. With fresh fighting raising fears of a wider Middle East conflict and diplomatic efforts still uncertain, both governments signaled they were preparing for the possibility of further escalation. U.S. embassies across the region began warning American citizens that routes out could narrow, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guard urged people in neighboring countries to avoid military sites hosting U.S. troops.
American forces disabled the M/T Lavine in the Gulf of Oman after the vessel tried at least four times to break the blockade, Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, told The Associated Press. Hawkins said the crew had been warned but failed to follow orders, prompting U.S. forces to fire into the ship’s engine room. It was the second commercial vessel disabled since the blockade was reinstated. U.S. Central Command said it has also diverted 12 ships.
Earlier Friday, President Donald Trump characterized the talks with Iran as “by far the most serious that we’ve seen,” even as U.S. forces have continued carrying out daily strikes.
“We’re locked and loaded and ready to go, but we’re talking to them,” Trump told reporters, adding that he was “not in a hurry” to bring the war to an end.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, insisting that Iran “will not bow to U.S.” bullying, pointed to continuing discussions with China and Russia, two major powers frequently at odds with Washington. In an interview with the semiofficial Tasnim news agency, he warned that the Islamic Republic is “neither intimidated by threats nor will we yield to pressure.”
The conflict has centered heavily on the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy corridors. Iranian attacks have effectively closed the route, driving up fuel prices and triggering broader economic disruption.
US strikes sites across Iran and countries in the region are targeted
In Irbil, the northern Iraqi city that hosts American military advisers, security officials said U.S.-led forces intercepted and destroyed five drones packed with explosives. Loud blasts were heard across the capital of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region, and dark smoke rose near the airport, where U.S. forces are stationed. U.S. military officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reported attacks.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted the U.S. base in Udairi, Kuwait, setting ablaze and destroying three ammunition and storage sheds. It also claimed to have struck a watchtower for the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, which it said was damaged.
U.S. Central Command did not respond to inquiries about the claims.
Both Bahrain and Jordan said they had intercepted aerial attacks by Iran on Friday.
As a barrage of assaults was aimed at bases of the United States and its allies, the U.S. hit a Revolutionary Guard naval base in northern Iran, according to the semiofficial news outlets Fars and ISNA. Blasts from U.S. bombardment were also reported on Iran’s Qeshm Island, a base for naval assets including drone boats that Iran can use to attack vessels in the strait, as well as in Isfahan province, home to a major Iranian air base and one of Iran’s nuclear sites.
Additional strikes reportedly hit Iran’s southwest Khuzestan province and southern Fars province.
Central Command said the latest barrage was designed to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters” as the Americans push to reopen the strait, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas transited in peacetime.
Houthi attacks give Iran more leverage in potential negotiations
A diplomatic delegation from Oman, which has been involved in mediation efforts between the U.S. and Iran, was in Tehran on Friday to discuss managing shipping traffic in the strait, according to Iran’s state news agency.
Iran’s ability to effectively close the strait — and cause economic chaos far beyond the Middle East — gives it tremendous leverage in negotiations. Its Houthi allies increased that leverage when they targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday — increasing the risks of shipping through another vital route for Middle Eastern oil.
The attacks made good on the Houthis’ threat to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Saudi-linked shipping. The strait at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, and around 12% of the world’s trade, including one-fourth of global container traffic, passes through there.
The passage has become more crucial for Saudi Arabia, which has been forced to divert millions of barrels of oil a day to bypass the strait.
Trump has threatened “major military punishment” against the Houthis if their attacks on ships continue.
The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, dipped slightly Friday to about $96, but it is still up substantially from before the start of the war, when it was trading around $72 a barrel. Motorists in the U.S. saw gas prices tick up to an average of $4.11 a gallon, AAA said.
No signs of diplomatic breakthrough as war’s human toll expands
Beyond the economic impact, the human toll was also apparent, with the Iranian Health Ministry reporting that 3,434 people have been killed since the war began.
In other developments, the International Maritime Organization said at least 6,000 mariners were stranded on about 400 vessels around the Strait of Hormuz. U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk called for “urgent action” to help them. His office said the seafarers are exposed to the fighting and some have been abandoned by their ships’ owners, leaving them to “fend for themselves without food, water, fuel, medical care, electricity or means to communicate with their families.”
There have been no public signs of progress in any negotiation efforts.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar of Pakistan, which has played a significant role in previous negotiations, met his Iranian counterpart, Araghchi, on Friday. But before the meeting, Araghchi appeared to brush off any attempts at mediation, saying he did not think the conflict needed more mediators, instead insisting the U.S. must change its position.
The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 and have offered shifting goals for the war, including toppling Tehran’s government and eliminating its nuclear program.
Israel signaled its willingness to rejoin the conflict in recent days. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he would travel to the U.S. next week and meet with Trump.
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Frankel reported from Jerusalem and Toropin from Washington. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Erin Cunningham in Jerusalem, Matthew Lee, Darlene Superville and Collin Binkley in Washington, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed.
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