US military says it fired on another merchant vessel trying to breach
its blockade of Iranian ports
[July 25, 2026]
By JULIA FRANKEL, STELLA MARTANY and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — The U.S. military said Friday that it fired on
another merchant vessel that was trying to breach its blockade of Iran's
ports, while the Islamic Republic targeted American strongholds around
the Persian Gulf.
The U.S. and Iran showed no sign of backing away from their conflict
after a 13th straight night of strikes. With fighting flaring again and
diplomacy uncertain, both sides made moves suggesting an escalation was
possible. U.S. embassies in the Middle East began alerting Americans in
the region that options to leave could become more limited, while Iran’s
Revolutionary Guard advised residents of neighboring countries to stay
away from bases with U.S. troops.
Saudi Arabia struck the port city of Hodeida in Yemen in response to
Iranian-backed Houthi rebel attacks on Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea,
the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said early Saturday. The Houthis said
they would escalate after tensions have been brewing for weeks, breaking
a yearslong calm.
American forces disabled the M/T Lavine in the Gulf of Oman after the
ship attempted to run the blockade at least four times, Capt. Tim
Hawkins, U.S. Central Command spokesman, told The Associated Press.
Hawkins stressed that the ship’s crew was warned and didn’t comply with
commands. The military then fired into its engine room. It’s the second
commercial ship to be disabled since the military reimposed its
blockade.
Earlier on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump met with top national
security aides to discuss the situation with Iran and whether the
administration should maintain the current course or escalate military
attacks, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of
anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. It was not immediately
clear if any decisions were made at the meeting, which was earlier
reported by The New York Times. The White House didn’t immediately
respond to a request for comment.
In an event in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump described negotiations
with Iran as “by far the most serious that we’ve seen,” even as the U.S.
has launched daily strikes. Trump added that he's “not in a hurry” to
end the war.
Vowing that Iran “will not bow to U.S.” bullying, Iranian Foreign
Minister Abbas Araghchi noted ongoing discussions with two global powers
often at odds with Americans — China and Russia — and warned in an
interview with the semiofficial news outlet Tasnim that the Islamic
Republic is “neither intimidated by threats nor will we yield to
pressure.”
At the center of the fight is the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial passage
for world energy supplies that has been effectively shut down by Iranian
attacks, sending fuel prices soaring and causing widespread economic
turmoil.
US strikes sites across Iran and countries in the region are targeted
In the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, which is home to a contingent of
American military advisers, security officials said Friday that U.S.-led
forces had shot down five explosives-laden drones. Repeated blasts
echoed in Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region,
and plumes of black smoke were seen near its airport, where U.S. forces
are based. U.S. military officials did not respond to a request for
comment on the apparent attacks.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted the U.S. base
in Udairi, Kuwait, destroying three ammunition and storage sheds. It
also claimed to have struck a watchtower for the U.S. Navy’s Fifth
Fleet, based in Bahrain.
U.S. Central Command did not respond to inquiries about the claims.
Both Bahrain and Jordan said they had intercepted aerial attacks by Iran
on Friday.
As a barrage of assaults was aimed at bases of the U.S. and its allies,
the U.S. hit a Revolutionary Guard naval base in northern Iran,
according to the semiofficial news outlets Fars and ISNA. Blasts from
U.S. bombardment were also reported on Iran’s Qeshm Island, a base for
naval assets including drone boats that Iran can use to attack vessels
in the strait, as well as in Isfahan province, home to a major Iranian
air base and one of Iran’s nuclear sites.
Additional strikes reportedly hit Iran’s southwest Khuzestan province
and southern Fars province.
U.S. Central Command said the latest barrage was designed to “further
degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial
vessels transiting regional waters” as the Americans push to reopen the
strait, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas transited in
peacetime.
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A woman crosses a street with a girl in downtown Tehran, Iran,
Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Houthi attacks give Iran more leverage in potential negotiations
A diplomatic delegation from Oman, which has been involved in
mediation efforts between the U.S. and Iran, was in Tehran on Friday
to discuss managing shipping traffic in the strait, according to
Iran’s state news agency.
Iran’s ability to effectively close the strait — and cause economic
chaos far beyond the Middle East — gives it tremendous leverage in
negotiations. Its Houthi allies increased that leverage when they
targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday —
increasing the risks of shipping through another vital route for
Middle Eastern oil. The attacks made good on the Houthis’ threat to
close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Saudi-linked shipping.
An official at the Transport General Authority also said a Saudi
vessel was targeted Friday while sailing in the Red Sea, resulting
in minor damage to its hull, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Houthi-run Al Masirah television said early Saturday that Saudi
strikes hit facilities belonging to the state telecommunications
corporation and also targeted Kamaran island, off Yemen’s western
coast. The broadcaster said one employee was injured and a woman was
also wounded in Kamaran Island.
Saudi Arabia said it would do everything necessary to protect its
ships and warned the Houthis if they continued “hostile acts then
there will be no hesitation in responding.”
Trump also has threatened “major military punishment” against the
Houthis if their attacks on ships continue.
The strait at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula connects the
Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, and around 12% of the world’s trade,
including one-fourth of global container traffic, passes through
there. The passage has become more crucial for Saudi Arabia, which
has been forced to divert millions of barrels of oil a day to bypass
the Strait of Hormuz.
The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, dipped
slightly Friday to about $96, but it's still up substantially from
before the war, when it was trading around $72 a barrel. Motorists
in the U.S. saw gas prices tick up to an average of $4.11 a gallon,
AAA said.
No signs of diplomatic breakthrough as war's human toll expands
Beyond the economic impact, the human toll was also apparent, with
the Iranian Health Ministry reporting that 3,434 people have been
killed since the war began.
In other developments, the International Maritime Organization said
at least 6,000 mariners were stranded on about 400 vessels around
the Strait of Hormuz. U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk's office
said some seafarers have been abandoned by their ships’ owners,
leaving them to “fend for themselves without food, water, fuel,
medical care, electricity or means to communicate with their
families.”
There have been no public signs of progress in negotiation efforts.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar of Pakistan, which has played a
significant role in previous negotiations, met his Iranian
counterpart, Araghchi, on Friday. Before the meeting, Araghchi
appeared to brush off any attempts at mediation, saying he did not
think the conflict needed more mediators, instead insisting the U.S.
must change its position.
The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 and have offered
shifting goals for the war, including toppling Tehran’s government
and eliminating its nuclear program.
Israel signaled its willingness to rejoin the conflict in recent
days. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he would
travel to the U.S. next week and meet with Trump.
___
Frankel reported from Jerusalem and Toropin from Washington.
Associated Press journalists Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Erin Cunningham
in Jerusalem, Matthew Lee, Darlene Superville and Collin Binkley in
Washington, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Hannah
Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Fay Abuelgasim in Cairo
contributed.
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