Al Jazeera can report that US Central Command said at 4.45pm ET that it had begun a third consecutive night of strikes against Iran at Donald Trump’s direction. The strikes were described as continuing against Iranian forces and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
The command said, “These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.” That leaves the confrontation in motion, with the energy route and the military tempo moving together instead of in separate lanes.
Bushehr and Omidiyeh hit
Iran’s Nournews said Bushehr in southern Iran was hit in a renewed US attack, while the Mehr news agency said explosions were heard again in southern Iran’s port city of Bushehr. The Mehr news agency also said several blasts had been heard in the Jam governate of Bushehr province, and the semi-official Iranian agency was earlier quoted as saying US projectiles had hit several areas in Omidiyeh in Khuzestan province to the north.
For people in Bushehr and Omidiyeh in Khuzestan, that means the latest strikes were not limited to a single point. They reached multiple areas across southern and southwestern Iran, spreading the impact across a wider stretch of territory than one isolated hit would have done.
Bahrain and the Strait of Hormuz
Bahrain’s air defences intercepted and destroyed Iranian aerial attacks on the country, according to an adviser to the king. Sirens sounded in Bahrain and people were urged to seek safe shelter. Bahrain’s military accused Tehran of targeting civilians in its latest attacks there, while Iran said it had struck US military facilities and infrastructure in Bahrain.
That contradiction now sits beside the shipping risk in the Strait of Hormuz. Bahrain said it faced Iranian aerial attacks while Iran said it was hitting US facilities, and both sides assert they control the vital energy route; for commercial shipping, the practical effect is uncertainty over movement through the waterway itself.
Brent crude jumps 2%
Oil prices rose 2% to their highest in four weeks as renewed US-Iran hostilities heightened uncertainty about energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures climbed $1.68, or 2%, to $84.98 a barrel by 0051 GMT on Tuesday, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.65, or 2.1%, to $79.79 a barrel.
Brent crude surged 9.6% in the previous session, its biggest daily gain since May 2020, and both Brent crude and US West Texas Intermediate were at their highest since the US and Iran signed their memorandum of understanding on 17 June aimed at ending their war. The immediate read for shipping, traders, and households tracking fuel costs is simple: the next move in this confrontation will be measured not only by missiles and air defences, but by whether the Strait of Hormuz stays open without another jump in prices.
