Iran attacks another U.S. warship as Houthis strike four Saudi cities

Iran is answering the United States’ blockade and isolation campaign with a widening offensive. On July 7, Iran said it used ballistic missiles to attack U.S. naval vessels near the Strait of Hormuz. The following day, U.S. forces attacked Iranian tankers near Kharg Island, home to Iran’s largest oil facilities, and near Jask in the Gulf of Oman.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency said U.S. missiles hit an Iranian tanker about six kilometers from Kharg Island. Iranian state television reported a second tanker attack near Jask. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps then threatened to target tankers in ports in Kuwait and Bahrain and warned local crews to evacuate.

Iran had already said it attacked a U.S. aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer with ballistic missiles on July 4. U.S. officials described attempts to directly target warships as a serious escalation. The Revolutionary Guard also said it had captured a U.S. submarine near Hormuz. A U.S. official acknowledged that an underwater drone had malfunctioned the previous day and had been captured by Iran.

“

The fact that Iran can target warships even after the United States degraded its battlefield surveillance capability is itself a major concern.

The article says no U.S. ship suffered damage from Iran’s missile attacks, but recent strikes appear to involve more sophisticated weapons. Analysts said some Iranian missiles use optical seekers that can guide them toward moving targets through image data. John Caves, a senior researcher at the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, said Iran unveiled a medium-range ballistic missile known as the Qasem Basir last year with seeker technology. U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal that Iran may be receiving support from China or Russia to track American naval positions. The United States has deployed 19 warships in the region as it tries to contain and isolate Iran.

Iran’s Houthi ally in Yemen also claimed a broad operation against southern Saudi Arabia on July 8. It said drones and missiles targeted an air base in Khamis Mushait and facilities belonging to Saudi state oil company in Abha, Najran and Jizan. Saudi authorities acknowledged fires at the facilities and reported 73 injuries, including women and children. Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree blamed Saudi airstrikes in Yemen for escalating the war and said the group would respond. As fighting intensified around Hormuz and the Red Sea, Brent crude rose to $99.24 a barrel.

“

The victims’ information that they sent while grasping at straws instead created a second wave of abuse that identified them even more specifically.