Donald Trump and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine (Getty/File)
UPDATES: US War on Iran, Day 153 — The Trump Camp Retreats
UPDATE 0625 GMT:
A liquefied natural gas tanker exited the Strait of Hormuz overnight, the first LNG vessel visible on ship-tracking data to leave the waterway since July 11.
QatarEnergy’s Al Areesh tanker loaded a cargo at Qatar’s Ras Laffan terminal around July 4 to 6. It is heading to Port Qasim, Pakistan, with an estimated arrival date of July 31.
Twelve commodity ships passed through the Strait on Wednesday, six entering and six exiting.
However, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed on Thursday that two oil tankers attempting to transit the Strait with US support turned back after one caught fire.
The Guards reiterated that the Strait is “our territory” and “cannot be reopened as long as the excessive rhetoric and threats of American officials and their interference in maritime movements in the region continue”.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: The US has resumed strikes inside Iran after a six-day pause.
The Americans attacked after the Iranians fired five missiles, all of which were reportedly intercepted, on American forces in Jordan on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, following the US assault, the Jordanians said they downed another five missiles.
Iranian State media said a couple and a toddler were killed on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Explosions were reported in Khuzestan Province in southwest Iran and in the city of Bushehr in the south.
US Central Command said they struck “dozens” of targets in the two-hour assault, including military command centres as well as missile and drone facilities, and coastal surveillance and defense sites.
In a sign of an expanding war across the region, the US and Saudi Arabia struck the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces, part of the Iraqi military, in Iraq. At least 20 troops and six Iranian advisors were killed, and 32 troops injured.
The attack followed a strike on Saudi oil facilities which reportedly came from Iraq. The PMU denied responsibility.
Baghdad’s political leaders, including President Nizar Amedi and the prominent Shi’a figure Moqtada al-Sadr, denounced the US-Saudi strikes and called for Iraq to be kept out of the US-Iran War.
The Trump camp had halted strikes inside Iran last Friday after 12 consecutive nights of attacks. Military advisors, including the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, cited a shortage of air defense interceptors against Iranian retaliation. They also noted diminishing returns from targets in Iran.
However, US officials say the Trump camp is considering a plan for an extensive air campaign against Iran that could take 10 to 14 days. The proposal has been drawn up by Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, to cripple Iran’s missile capability.
Meanwhile, tensions continued across the region. Yemen’s Iran-linked Houthis fired on shipping as they tried to enforce a blockade of Saudi ports. On Monday, the Houthis launched drones against facilities transporting oil across Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port city of Yanbu, claiming a response to a Saudi drone breaching Yemen’s airspace.
For the first time during the US-Israel War, an attack was reported in Egypt. Drones struck a US-owned floating storage facility and a Greek-owned tanker in the port of Damietta on the Mediterranean. No casualties were reported as vessels were evacuated from the area.
Two Iranian sources indicated Tehran was behind the attack, “designed to show that global shipping and energy supplies could be more deeply disrupted if Iran chose to escalate”.
The global price of Brent crude oil jumped almost 8% to more than $88 a barrel. It has risen further on Thursday to $91.89.
