U.S. attacks Iran and Tehran retaliates across West Asia as both vie for control of strait
The U.S. launched strikes on Iran early Tuesday (July 14, 2026) morning, hours after President Donald Trump said Washington is “reinstating” a blockade on Iran
The U.S. launched strikes on Iran early Tuesday (July 14, 2026) morning, hours after President Donald Trump said Washington is “reinstating” a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. Mr. Trump separately suggested the United States will charge other ships for safe passage, upending hundreds of years of American policy supporting freedom of navigation across the globe. Also Read: West Asia war updates on July 14 Iran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain, Jordan and two tankers associated with the United Arab Emirates travelling through the strait, killing one mariner and wounding eight others. The Emirates threatened to retaliate against Iran, potentially drawing the nation that is home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai back into fighting with Tehran. The attacks come as Iran and the U.S. vie for control of the strait through which a fifth of all traded crude oil and natural gas once passed in peacetime. The price of benchmark Brent crude oil rose to a one-month high of over $84 in trading early Tuesday, still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the war but threatening to make costs everywhere higher. The U.S. military’s Central Command said it struck areas around Abu Musa, Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, Chahbahar, Jask and Konarak, targeting Iranian “coastal defence systems, missile and drone sites and maritime capabilities.” Iran acknowledged strikes around those areas, but provided no immediate casualty or damage assessments. “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,” the U.S. military said.
Moments after the military announced the new strikes, Mr. Trump called it “another major attack.” “We’re hitting them very hard. And it’ll continue, and we’ll see what happens,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “We’re knocking out all of their offensive capability and we’re controlling the straits. We’re putting the blockade back.” Trump also provided new details on his suggestion that the U.S. will charge tolls for ships going through the strait, an about-face after previously saying that it wouldn’t. “We’re protecting a very rich portion of the world,” he said. “We’re spending money. And so, what we’ve done is, we are going to be reimbursed for protection.” It’s a change in U.S. policy that, until now, said the strait should remain open to all without tolls — as it was before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Any attempt by the U.S. or Iran to charge fees would violate global norms on freedom of navigation and raise tensions, likely causing further economic disruption far beyond the region. The U.S. Navy has fought for freedom of navigation on the seas since the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. The United Arab Emirates’ Defense Ministry said early on Tuesday (July 14, 2026) that Iran attacked two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, killing one mariner and wounding eight others. The Emirati Defence Ministry said Iran launched two cruise missiles at the tankers Mombasa and Al Bahiyah. The attacks set both tankers ablaze, though the fires were extinguished.
The BriefWire