Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) sails behind the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) on June 27, 2026. Frank E. Petersen Jr. is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of maritime security and stability in the Middle East.
Provided by: U.S. Navy
The U.S. military launched a ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran on Sunday, extending an operation aimed at destroying Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Centcom launched a new attack against Iran for the ninth consecutive night starting today at 7pm ET,” U.S. Central Command said in a post to
The waterway, which handled about 20% of the world’s oil shipments before the war, became a central battleground in the war that began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran. Oil prices rose as a result, with Brent crude oil futures up nearly 3% to about $90.7 a barrel and U.S. WTI futures up 2.5% to $84.6.
The number of casualties continued to rise over the weekend. The U.S. military said Sunday that a third U.S. service member has been killed in the recent conflict with Iran, and the unidentified remains of a service member missing in action have been found in Jordan, bringing the number of U.S. service members killed in the nearly five-month war to 17.
Iranian authorities said Sunday that at least 50 people were killed and more than 500 injured in renewed U.S. attacks this month.
The belligerent powers have stepped up attacks in the region, accusing each other of violating the framework of a memorandum of understanding agreed to in June by Washington and Tehran, raising fears of a return to all-out war.
“The memo says little about how pending cases will be investigated or how violations in one region will affect obligations in other regions,” said Michael Ferrer, chief strategist at Geostrategy. He noted that the memorandum’s ambiguity meant that the first serious dispute quickly turned into a dispute over whether the agreement still existed.
US attacks have expanded in recent days to target civilian infrastructure, including the Bonzi desalination plant, which has cut off water supply to about 10,000 people.
The Iranian government is also retaliating with new attacks across the Gulf against targets in neighboring countries including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Kuwaiti authorities announced last Friday that Iranian missile and drone attacks targeted civilian infrastructure in the country, including a desalination plant.
The U.S. Embassy in Bahrain’s capital Manama said Monday it had received information suggesting Iran may be attempting to target an unspecified location in central Manama, and urged all Americans in the city to remain vigilant.
Traffic in Hormuz has slowed to its lowest level in three weeks following a flare-up in hostilities, with only eight crossings on Thursday, compared with 15 the day before, according to maritime information firm Kupler.
However, US officials insisted that the flow was still holding. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that about two-thirds of pre-conflict traffic – about 14 million barrels per day – was passing through the chokepoint. Before the conflict, approximately 20 million barrels of crude oil and refined products passed through the waterway.
Mr Wright said in an interview with the ABC on Sunday that public reports that most transport had stopped in recent days were simply not true. “It’s not 100% yet, but it’s two-thirds flowing right now.”
