Iran targets U.S. military assets as Houthis threaten ports blockade
The Houthis would put at risk Riyadh’s ability to bypass the flashpoint Strait of Hormuz for some of its oil exports.
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The Houthis would put at risk Riyadh’s ability to bypass the flashpoint Strait of Hormuz for some of its oil exports.
TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran targeted United States radar and air defense installations in the Gulf on Tuesday, warning Washington of “more decisive and powerful” attacks to come as the conflict threatened to widen with a blockade of Saudi ports by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked and stopped two “non-compliant oil tankers” attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, part of an effort to tighten its grip on the vital waterway while the war reignited.
Following the deaths of at least three American soldiers in the past several days, the US launched a new round of attacks against Iran late Monday which it said were “designed to further degrade Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial shipping” in the strait.
Hours later, the Iranian army said it had targeted US assets in Kuwait and Bahrain, including air defense systems, radar installations and administrative buildings.
“With this radar sweep, the enemy should prepare for even more decisive and powerful waves of drone and missile attacks,” the Guards said in a statement carried by state news agency IRNA.
US President Donald Trump warned Monday that Iran would pay “many times over” for every American soldier killed, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the conflict had become “a full-scale war.”
Nearly 100 US servicemembers have been wounded since 7 July, the Pentagon said on Monday, most with minor concussions.
Tehran’s Yemeni allies, the Houthi rebels, meanwhile, threatened a major broadening of the war, announcing they would blockade Saudi ports.
Such a move by the Houthis would put at risk Riyadh’s ability to bypass the flashpoint Strait of Hormuz for some of its oil exports and have major repercussions on the global economy.
Saudi Arabia and the Houthis traded fire last week for the first time in years, threatening a 2022 truce, but the rebels have largely remained on the sidelines since Israel and the US attacked Iran in late February.
Saudi Arabia strongly condemned the threat from what it called the “terrorist Houthi militia” and said it “continues to support the brotherly Yemeni people and their legitimate government.”
The Middle East war resumed after an April ceasefire and a June framework deal collapsed.
Tehran reimposed its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and Washington hit back by again blockading Iran’s ports.
Oil prices surged briefly to a one-month high Monday before easing slightly early Tuesday as the foes battle to control the strait, through which a fifth of world oil travelled in peacetime.
Saudi Arabia has been able to continue exporting millions of barrels of oil a day via its Red Sea port of Yanbu.
Oil markets have for months feared that the Houthis would return to attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
