US-Iran strikes extend to 10th day as Houthis threaten ships

Moira Warburton, Patrick Sykes and Kate Sullivan, Bloomberg News on Jul 21, 2026

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The U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes for a 10th consecutive day even as mediators sought to revive a truce, while the Houthi militant group in Yemen threatened shipping in the Red Sea.

The U.S. Central Command said it targeted Iranian military command centers, launch sites and air defenses overnight, and Iran attacked sites in Kuwait and Jordan, with Kuwait saying power and desalination plants were among those hit. The U.K. navy reported strikes on two vessels around the Strait of Hormuz.

The critical trade waterway is at the heart of the latest flare up in fighting, with Iran insisting on maintaining control of maritime traffic after disagreeing with the U.S. on how to interpret a ceasefire reached last month. Mediators are working to revive that June 17 interim peace agreement, and Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni is in Pakistan Tuesday to discuss a way forward with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Oil prices have surged by about a fifth in July after hostilities resumed in the near five-month war, which began when the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran at the end of February. Brent crude traded slightly higher on Tuesday at just below $90 a barrel.

The Iran-backed Houthis on Monday said they would impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, putting at risk the flow of millions of barrels that the kingdom exports via the Red Sea. A message from the Yemen-based group to shipowners warned all vessels against calling at Saudi ports, according to an email seen by Bloomberg, shedding light on the scope of a threat.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said it is taking steps to protect ships in the area while the Saudi Foreign Ministry said the kingdom would take all necessary measures to protect vessels in accordance with international law.

A disruption to supplies through the Red Sea, the route currently used by Saudi Arabia for the bulk of its crude exports, would exacerbate the war’s impact on global oil trade.

U.S. retail gasoline prices have climbed back over $4 a gallon, potentially hurting President Donald Trump and his Republican Party before midterm elections in November.

Pakistan and Qatar, the main intermediaries in the conflict, see a return to U.S.-Iran positions before July 9 as a first step in easing hostilities, according to the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency. The latest round of fighting over control of the Strait of Hormuz began that day.

Asked about a Reuters report that mediators proposed a 10-day ceasefire, a U.S. official said Trump is currently focused on punishing Iran for attacking ships in the strait. The strikes will continue until the president chooses a different course of action, the official said, but diplomatic efforts to end the war were continuing.

Tehran, insisting it has a right to manage traffic through Hormuz, has attacked U.S. bases across Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Iraq. The Kaifan, an oil products tanker owned by Kuwait Oil Tanker Co., became the latest major vessel to be attacked in the strait as the outbreak in fighting empties the waterway.

The U.S. military has announced the death of three service members in northern Iraq and Jordan since Friday, with another service member still missing.

Iran says U.S. attacks have struck bridges, killed more than 50 people and wounded more than 500 since the most recent flare-up began.

Trump warned Iran last week he’d escalate airstrikes and widen the scope of targets until it backed down. The latest U.S. attacks were “in honor” of the personnel killed, Trump told reporters. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday the president will attend a dignified transfer ceremony for “our fallen heroes” on Tuesday evening.

Israel has sat out this month’s hostilities, while saying it’s poised to rejoin the fight should it come under direct Iranian attack or if the U.S. requests assistance.

“Israel has no interest, as of now, in entering the fray that has been demarcated between Iran and the U.S.,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said at a conference on Tuesday.

A breakthrough is unlikely to happen until the U.S. and Iran can reach an agreement over shipping in the Hormuz strait. Shipping volumes have slumped and the number of vessels going through Hormuz is now roughly the same level as during the height of the conflict in March and early April.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said his country wouldn’t abandon diplomacy but also won’t be forced back to the negotiating table while under military attack.

“Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf had global consequences and we became a global player,” he said in an interview published on his Telegram channel, underscoring how Tehran sees control of the strait as a source of leverage over the U.S. and as vital to its security.

—With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron, Skylar Woodhouse, Omar Tamo and Dan Williams.