Tensions continued to rise in the Middle East on Monday after US forces continued a nine-day bombing streak against Iran on Sunday, following the death of two US service members killed in Iranian attacks.
Iran began targeting ships in the Strait of Hormuz again earlier this month in violation of the signed memorandum of understanding with Iran. The US later reinstated the US Naval blockade on Iranian ports and started bombing Iran nonstop in response.
Iran has retaliated by targeting US bases in the region, including in Jordan, where two US service members were killed in action last week. Fox’s Trey Yingst reports that Iran is firing missiles at Jordan again today.
Iran is firing missiles at Jordan again tonight.
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) July 20, 2026
Axios’s Barak Ravid reports that Trump will continue dealing “devastating blows” to hold Iran accountable for the collapsed Memorandum of Understanding and continued attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz:
U.S. official tells me on potential ceasefiretalks with Iran: “Right now, President Trump is focused on making Iran pay for their violations of the MOU and their continued acts of terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz. In addition, the President will make Iran pay for the recent deaths of U.S. soldiers. These devastating blows will continue until the President deems otherwise, but talks between our countries are continuing.”
🇺🇸🇮🇷U.S. official tells me on potential ceasefiretalks with Iran: “Right now, President Trump is focused on making Iran pay for their violations of the MOU and their continued acts of terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz. In addition, the President will make Iran pay for the recent…
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) July 20, 2026
New attacks on commercial vessels occurred on Sunday and Monday near the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf of Oman, with one vessel being hit east of Dibba, UAE, and another off the coast of Kumzar, Oman.
Per CBS:
Multiple ships were struck on Sunday near the Strait of Hormuz, a British maritime agency said.
One incident occurred 17 nautical miles east of Dibba, in the United Arab Emirates, in which a vessel reported “being struck by an unknown projectile” that damaged its steering gear, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center. It said the strike had “no environmental impact.”
Another incident, also on Sunday, happened eight nautical miles off the coast of Kumzar, Oman. That incident has been classified as an attack by the maritime agency, which said a vessel was struck by an unknown projectile that caused a fire on the ship.
“The fire has not been extinguished and the vessel is currently adrift,” the agency said on Monday, adding that crews in both incidents have been reported as safe. Still, it urged vessels to move through the region “with caution” as authorities investigate.
Meanwhile, Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have also imposed a naval blockade on the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the gateway between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden near Saudi Arabia’s western coastline, per Reuters. By stopping Saudi oil exports to Asia, the blockade could reduce global oil supply by 7%.
The Houthis’ armed forces described the blockade in a statement as “a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye’, effective immediately.”
Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, warned on Monday that the blockade risks an “even wider” regional conflict, CBS reported. “We’ve seen the reports and are very much concerned by the renewed Houthi threats against Saudi Arabia, against freedom of navigation, which leads to the risk of an even wider regional escalation,” Dujarric said.
As The Gateway Pundit reported earlier, heavy strikes are expected to continue against Iran and its allies. President Trump threatened earlier that Iran will pay “many times over” for killing American troops and for continued hostilities.
The US is likely to retaliate with more strikes tonight.
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