US and Iran edge toward war again
- The San Juan Daily Star
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
By ERIC SCHMITT, JENNY GROSS, LEO SANDS and RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
After another night of attacks, the United States and Iran appeared to be reverting to the heightened conflict that existed before their ceasefire, as they exchanged incendiary rhetoric and President Donald Trump said he was reinstating the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Trump has also formally notified Congress that fighting with Iran resumed, a recognition that the truce is breaking down and one that stokes a struggle over vital war powers. Congress has directed the president to either end the war or seek approval to continue it, but Trump insists he has the sole authority to make that call. The notification letter, dated Friday, was obtained by The New York Times on Monday.
Trump said the United States would take control of the disputed Strait of Hormuz, charging a 20% fee on all goods passing through it. He had lifted the blockade last month after the two countries reached a truce, which has been threatened by repeated strikes by both sides.
Trump told Fox News that the United States would charge other countries for keeping the strait safe. “We are going to guard it, and we’re going to get paid for guarding it,” he said. The suggestion, which would amount to an expansion of the military conflict, echoed previous threats that had not come to pass.
The United States “will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World,” Trump later wrote on social media.
Hours earlier, Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, was among the Iranian officials calling for revenge against the United States over the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, describing it as “the right of the Iranian nation,” according to the state broadcaster.
The upswell in rhetoric came after Iran’s military said early Monday that it launched another barrage of strikes aimed at U.S. military assets in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. Hours earlier, U.S. forces said they had launched more strikes on Iran aimed at stymieing its ability to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest exchange caps a nearly weeklong flare-up of hostilities as the United States and Iran tussle over control of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed before the war.
Iranian attacks and threats against shipping all but halted traffic through the strait in March, causing global fuel shortages. It rebounded somewhat after the truce but has remained far below prewar levels.
Soon after Trump said the blockade would be reinstated, the price of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed to $83 a barrel, up from $76 Friday.
Here’s what else to know:
— Strait of Hormuz: Shipping dropped again over the weekend through the waterway after Iran attacked a Cypriot-flagged container ship that it accused of “violating” its conditions for transiting the waterway, setting off the latest exchange of hostilities. Just 14 ships passed through the waterway Sunday, the fewest in a month, according to Kpler, a maritime data firm.
— U.S. allies: Jordan’s air defense systems intercepted four missiles from Iran on Monday, the official Petra news agency reported, citing Jordan’s armed forces, which said there were no casualties or material damage in the attacks. Kuwait’s army said its air defenses intercepted hostile aerial targets, and Bahrain said it also fended off Iranian missile and drone attacks.
— U.S. attacks: The U.S. military’s Central Command said its latest wave of strikes had hit “dozens of targets” early Monday local time, including Iranian air-defense systems, and missile and drone capabilities.
— Market volatility: Oil prices rose and global stock markets fell after the Iranian and U.S. attacks over the weekend. In the United States, the average price of gasoline was $3.87, according to AAA motor club, up 7 cents compared with a week ago.