US missiles hit Iran as path towards de-escalation uncertain

The United States launched missile strikes on targets across Iran on Friday, escalating tensions as President Donald Trump vowed "major military punishment" for Tehran and its allies in Yemen. However, Trump also left the door open for a diplomatic resolution, telling reporters that while the U.S. is "locked and loaded," they are also "talking to them."

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We are talking to them. I think they're being serious. I think ... they are being by far the most serious that we've seen them, but that doesn't mean we get there.

Two weeks after an interim truce collapsed, Iran's armed forces retaliated by firing on U.S. bases in neighboring Arab nations. They warned civilians in those areas that non-military buildings used by U.S. personnel could be targeted. Trump had previously threatened to expand strikes to include energy plants and bridges, and to seize Iran's Kharg Island oil hub.

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There's a military exit where we just keep going just the way we are, and we can even make it a heavier dose, and it's knocking out everything they have. Or there's a smarter strategy that you make a deal.

The conflict, now in its fifth month, has already impacted global inflation and raised fears of an economic downturn. The Houthis, controlling parts of Yemen, announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, prompting Saudi oil diversions. After the Houthis claimed to have struck two Saudi tankers, Trump vowed to hold Iran accountable for any further attacks by the fighters. On Friday, eyewitnesses reported several strikes on Yemen's Hodeidah port, which the Saudi-led coalition described as a "proportionate military response operation" against Houthi military sites.

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We're locked and loaded. We're ready to go.

Iranian media reported that U.S. missiles hit a Revolutionary Guards Navy headquarters in Gilan province and the port city of Bandar Anzali. The state broadcaster IRIB reported four people were killed and five injured in an attack on the city of Ahvaz. The Revolutionary Guards issued a warning to Gulf countries about potential strikes against U.S. military personnel.

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We're locked and loaded. We're ready to go.