The United States launched its 12th straight night of strikes on Iran as the conflict widened again, this time through fresh claims about ships in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz. Donald Trump said earlier in the U.S. day that if Iran fired on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, the United States would bomb and destroy one bridge or power plant.
That warning landed as Iran-aligned Yemen’s Houthis said they had carried out missile and drone strikes on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, naming the Encelia among them. Saudi state news agency SPA then reported that a Saudi-owned vessel was targeted while sailing in the Red Sea on Thursday and said the front of the ship caught fire, while all crew members aboard the Encelia were safe.
The same day, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it stopped three oil tankers from passing through the Strait of Hormuz. It said one of them exploded and caught fire while the other two turned back, a claim that puts it in direct conflict with the US military’s account of the waterway. Central Command says Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz, that the international route remains open for transit despite IRGC threats and attacks, and that commercial vessels continue to use it with US military support.
That split matters because it leaves two rival versions of the same chokepoint on the table. The IRGC said the strait is under its control and warned that any ship that passes without coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran will suffer the same fate, while Central Command says the sea lane remains open. The Houthis, who control areas near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, said on Monday they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, tying the Red Sea pressure to the larger campaign.
The result is a widening confrontation in which shipping, oil, and military signaling are all being pulled into the same frame. Iran has hit tankers using a route hugging the Omani coast in recent weeks, and Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz had already pushed up oil and petrol prices and stoked inflation. What remains unanswered after the 12th night of strikes is simple: which targets were hit, and whether the next move comes from the United States, Iran, or the forces claiming the sea lanes in between.
