In Iran’s Hormozgan province, shipyards were seen damaged by US attacks, and Iranian authorities announced on July 19, 2026, that the US had attacked 95 locations in 12 cities over the past 10 days.
Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images
The United States completed a new offensive against Iran on Monday night as Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis threatened to impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, potentially opening a new front in the Middle East conflict.
The latest cycle of retaliatory strikes comes amid reports that regional mediators have presented Washington and the Iranian government with a 10-day ceasefire that could put last month’s memorandum back on track.
U.S. Central Command announced overnight that it had carried out additional strikes against Iran at 9 p.m. ET on Monday.
“U.S. forces attacked Iran’s military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defense systems to reduce Iran’s ability to continue attacking commercial shipping transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” Centcom said in a statement.
It added that commercial shipping through the strategically important waterway continues. Centcom forces have facilitated the passage of about 900 commercial ships and 450 million barrels of crude oil through the strait since early May, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Iran attacked a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday, forcing the crew to abandon it as it seeks to tighten control over the waterway, which normally handles about 20% of the world’s oil shipments.
Yemen’s Houthi militants on Monday declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia effective immediately, a move that could effectively threaten oil supplies in the Middle East.
The Houthis have repeatedly threatened to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait during the US-Iran war. The strait is a choke point for commercial shipping linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and world markets.
In a statement carried by state news, the militants accused Saudi Arabia of waging an “aggressive siege” against them. Tensions escalated last week after Riyadh claimed it had bombed Sana’a International Airport.
Yemen’s Saudi-led coalition said it would respond with force to the Houthi naval blockade, reportedly calling such threats a “blatant violation of international law.”
10-day ceasefire ‘not an easy task’
Oil prices briefly rose on news of the Houthi statement, but have since pared their gains as energy market participants closely monitor the prospects for a diplomatic breakthrough.
international benchmark brent crude oil Futures for September delivery were trading 1.5% lower at $87.95 a barrel, having traded above $90 in the previous session. us west texas intermediate Meanwhile, futures for August delivery fell 1.2% to $82.25.
ING strategists said there was some hope for a detente between the US and Iran, given reports that a mediator was proposing a 10-day ceasefire.
Sailors observe the oil tanker Helga moored at one of Iraq’s offshore oil terminals in southern Iraq near Basra, preparing to load crude oil, making it the second tanker to arrive since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz on April 24, 2026.
Mohamed Ati | Reuters
“This is no easy task,” ING’s Warren Patterson and Ewa Muncy said in a research note published Tuesday. He added: “A wide rift remains between the United States and Iran, and President Trump has said the United States will retaliate following the deaths of several American service members.”
President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Monday: “Every time Iran kills an American soldier, they will pay the price for that killing many times over!” He added that this directive has been communicated to all military leaders.
Saudi oil risk
Jorge León, senior vice president and head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy, said the Houthi threat puts about 2.5 million barrels of Saudi oil per day at risk as traffic in the Strait of Hormuz is currently backed up.
“With the Gulf’s major sea routes largely closed, the market is increasingly reliant on Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline and Red Sea Terminal to keep exports flowing,” Leung said in a research note on Monday.
Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline Network (Petroline) is a roughly 750-mile system that transports crude oil throughout the kingdom, linking Abqaiq on the kingdom’s oil-rich eastern Gulf coast to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea.
“Disruptions at Bab el-Mandeb will therefore threaten not only Saudi transport, but also one of the few remaining routes that can compensate for the significant drop in traffic in Hormuz,” Leung said.
He added: “If a ceasefire does not materialize and Hormuz remains largely closed as the Houthi threat to Red Sea shipping intensifies, the risk of a significant rebound in oil prices would be significant.”
—CNBC’s Chloe Taylor and Spencer Kimball both contributed to this report.
