The U.S. military completed its 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iran late Thursday, targeting military command centers, drone storage facilities, and coastal surveillance sites as Tehran launched retaliatory attacks on American positions across Jordan and Kuwait. U.S. Central Command said the latest round lasted more than two hours and aimed to diminish the threat Iran poses to civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded by striking U.S. assets in both countries. Jordan's army said it intercepted four Iranian missiles and six drones in the past day, with all but one missile stopped before it fell in an uninhabited area. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they struck a U.S. electronic warfare unit at Al-Adiri base in Kuwait, causing unspecified casualties, in response to an overnight strike on Iran's Shalamcheh border crossing with Iraq. The Iranian army announced that a number of U.S. facilities in Kuwait were targeted by "destructive drones," including ammunition and logistics depots at Camp Doha, fuel tanks at the Ali al-Salem base and an ammunition depot at Camp Arifjan.
The Proxy War Expands
President Donald Trump promised "major military punishment" for Iran and its Houthi allies after the Yemeni fighters struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, extending the war into a second major shipping chokepoint. Trump said on social media, "If they do this again, the U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves." He also told Axios he was considering re-launching major combat operations in Iran and was close to a decision. "They haven't received enough pain yet," the news outlet quoted Trump as saying.
The Houthis said they conducted missile and drone strikes on two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea overnight, the Encelia and the Layla. A maritime security source said the Encelia sent a distress call that it had been struck by a missile near the Saudi port of Jizan in the Red Sea just north of Yemen on Wednesday. Saudi state news agency SPA said the strike caused a fire at the bow. UKMTO, the British naval security monitor, said the master of a tanker reported being hit by an unknown projectile about 70 nautical miles southwest of Al Shuqaiq in Saudi Arabia, and that the projectile caused a fire that the crew was fighting. Saudi Arabia confirmed the Encelia had been struck, but didn't comment on the other tanker.
Iran's Stranglehold on Global Commerce
The IRGC said it stopped three oil tankers from transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. It said, "The Strait of Hormuz is under our control... and any ship that is deceived by the U.S. and intends to pass without coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran will suffer the same fate." The number of tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz fell to just one on Thursday, its lowest since May 7, shiptracking data showed.
Fears that disruption could widen to block another sea route sent global oil prices surging in one of the steepest rises of the war. Brent crude rose more than 6%, piercing the level of $100 a barrel for the first time since May. Shipping insurance costs through the southern Red Sea doubled for some companies on Thursday after the reported attacks, sources said. In the days since the Houthis unveiled their blockade in the Red Sea, several tankers have changed course to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb, instead heading north through the Suez Canal and potentially using a much longer and more expensive route to reach Asian customers by sailing around Africa.
The Human Cost and Escalation Threats
Iranian state media said on Thursday that a U.S. attack had killed two people at Shalamcheh, on Iran's border with Iraq, and that at least 11 others were wounded. State media reported that two U.S. missiles hit Bushehr, which is home to Iran's only civilian nuclear plant. Four people were killed and five injured in a U.S. missile attack on the Iranian city of Ahvaz, state broadcaster IRIB said. Tehran activated air defenses amid the strikes. Explosions and smoke were reported near Erbil airport in Iraq, which houses U.S. troops, and air defenses were activated there.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arachi responded with a warning on X, saying, "Seizing another nation's assets to pay for unrelated future claims is an incendiary precedent." He added on Friday, "Ensuing chaos will not be pretty or peaceful." Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, also said, "Our defense doctrine is clear: eye for an eye. Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response." He added, "Those who contribute to such aggression, whatever the kind of support, will also be considered as legitimate targets."
Iranian military spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said Iran would keep retaliating as long as the U.S. continued to attack its infrastructure and coastal areas, Iranian state TV reported. Trump said on social media that "any and all damages done" to cargo ships would be paid for with "Iranian Money," referring to frozen Iranian assets held by the United States, but without saying how.
Congressional Pushback
In Washington, the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives backed legislation on Thursday directing Trump to halt U.S. military action against Iran. The Senate voted hours later to block a separate, similar measure. Reuters also reported that the Senate blocked a resolution curbing Trump's Iran war powers.
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, and Tehran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host U.S. bases. U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have since killed thousands and displaced millions. The war was well into its fifth month. The 1949 Geneva Conventions on humanitarian conduct in war prohibit attacks on sites considered essential for civilians. International law experts in the U.S. said in April that such attacks could amount to war crimes, after Trump's previous threats. Trump's threat that month to destroy Iran's entire civilization also drew wide condemnation.
Why This Matters:
Iran's ability to strike U.S. bases across the region and its stranglehold on two critical maritime chokepoints reveal the strategic cost of decades of Western accommodation. The regime now controls the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil passes, and its Houthi proxies are shutting down Red Sea shipping. This isn't just a military confrontation — it's a test of whether democracies can counter a theocratic regime that has spent 40 years building proxy networks across the Middle East. The House vote to restrain Trump shows the domestic political challenge of sustained military action, even as Iran demonstrates it won't stop until forced to. Every tanker rerouted around Africa, every dollar added to oil prices, and every U.S. base targeted in Jordan or Kuwait is a reminder that Iran's regional ambitions carry global consequences. The question isn't whether the U.S. can strike Iranian targets — Thursday's raids prove it can. The question is whether Washington has the strategic patience to dismantle Iran's proxy infrastructure before Tehran's threats become economic reality for consumers worldwide.