Shipping confrontation deepens as attacks spread across Gulf region

Maritime pressure and regional strikes

The United States and Iran intensified military operations across the Middle East on July 24, 2026, as confrontations over shipping coincided with attacks around bases used by American forces.

US Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins told the Associated Press that American forces disabled the M/T Lavine in the Gulf of Oman after the merchant vessel made at least four attempts to cross a US blockade of Iranian ports. Hawkins said the crew received warnings but did not follow instructions, after which US forces fired into the engine room. According to the US military, it was the second commercial vessel disabled since the blockade was restored.

The maritime action came during a 13th consecutive night of US strikes against Iran. Central Command said its latest attacks were intended to reduce Iran’s capacity to threaten civilian sailors and commercial traffic. The United States was seeking to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies passed in peacetime, according to the AP.

Iranian attacks had effectively closed that passage and contributed to rising fuel prices and broader economic disruption. Oman, which has participated in mediation between Washington and Tehran, sent a delegation to Tehran to discuss management of shipping through the strait, Iran’s state news agency reported.

The conflict also reached sites elsewhere around the Gulf. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed that it attacked a US base at Udairi in Kuwait and destroyed three ammunition and storage structures. It separately said it struck a watchtower associated with the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. US Central Command did not answer AP inquiries about those assertions, while Bahrain and Jordan said they intercepted Iranian aerial attacks.

In Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region, explosions were heard and black smoke appeared near the airport, where US forces are based. Security officials cited by AP said US-led forces brought down five explosive drones. Kurdistan24 separately reported that coalition air defenses destroyed six explosive-laden drones over the city early that Friday, with no damage reported. Neither account identified the drones’ origin or intended destination, and the difference in the reported totals was not resolved in the available reporting.

Iranian media, meanwhile, reported US strikes against a Revolutionary Guard naval base in northern Iran and attacks on Qeshm Island, Isfahan province, Khuzestan province and Fars province.

Pressure also increased around the Red Sea. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers, while a Saudi official reported minor hull damage to another Saudi vessel. The Saudi-led coalition later said Saudi Arabia struck Hodeida in Yemen in response. These developments brought another important shipping corridor into the confrontation as international oil prices exceeded $100 a barrel.