July 18, 2026, 7:30 a.mJuly 18, 2026, 7:30 a.m
The conflict between the USA and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz threatens to spiral out of control. On what is now the seventh night of attacks in a row, the US armed forces said they bombed Iranian surveillance systems, underground weapons depots and other military infrastructure. Iranian media, however, again spoke of attacks on civilian infrastructure.
The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most important bottleneck for oil and liquefied natural gas exports.Image: Getty Images North America
As in previous nights, Tehran launched retaliatory strikes. The Gulf states of Kuwait and Bahrain came under fire again. There were also reports of explosions in Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The countries host US military bases.
While the US military did not provide any information about where exactly it attacked, the Iranian state broadcaster Irib reported detonations in the area of Sirik near the Strait of Hormuz and the coastal city of Bandar Abbas. According to the Fars news agency, there were further attacks on bridges in the Hormuzgan province in the south. According to the pro-government broadcaster Press TV, at least three civilians were killed and eight others injured there.
Before the US military declared the latest wave of attacks over early in the morning German time, the Iranian broadcaster Press TV reported the shooting down of a US drone in the area of the city of Bushehr, citing the powerful Revolutionary Guards. In addition, two oil tankers were on fire in the south of the Strait of Hormuz. The US military command Centcom wrote on X that the Guard’s claims that two oil tankers had exploded there were false.
Tehran warns its enemies
According to Iranian information, the US military had already attacked bridges and other civilian infrastructure the previous night. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Ismail Baghai wrote on X that the Iranian people are now even more determined to make their enemies “bitterly regret their criminal aggression.”
The US military is now attacking a wider range of targets in the Islamic Republic and is moving fighter jets from Europe to the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to information from the US news portal Axios, the US government informed its ally Israel that it would send dozens more tanker aircraft to the country in advance of a possible expansion of military operations against Iran. The portal cited three US and Israeli government officials.
Expert warns of total war
The US wanted to increase pressure across the country by attacking bridges and other targets inland and force an end to Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal reported. Iran is responding to this with more comprehensive counterattacks. “This escalation is rapidly intensifying and getting out of control,” Saeid Golkar, an expert on Iranian security issues at the University of Tennessee, told the newspaper. There is a danger “that we will fall back into all-out war, even if neither side wants this.”
The Strait of Hormuz was supposed to be reopened to international shipping under a framework agreement signed a month ago. Iran maintains that the agreement gives it the right to control traffic through the strait. Tehran demands that ships use a northern route along the Iranian coast. With renewed attacks on ships, Tehran wants to prevent the USA from escorting shipping traffic along the coast of Oman through the strait.
Hardly any ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz
After the mutual attacks between the USA and Iran have now resumed, shipping traffic in the strait has almost come to a standstill again. According to data from provider Kpler on Friday, only eight ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. This is the lowest value in three weeks, according to a post from Kpler on X.
Meanwhile, fears of an expansion of the conflict are growing. The Houthi militia in Yemen, allied with Iran, warned neighboring Saudi Arabia, allied with Washington, of a “siege”. The Yemeni news agency Saba quoted the militia’s defense minister, Mohammed al-Atafi, as saying that they are ready to apply the principle of “siege against siege, airport against airport and port against port.” He was apparently referring to an air strike at the beginning of the week on the airport in the capital Sanaa, for which the militia blamed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan: Danger of supra-regional escalation
The militia is considered one of Iran’s most important non-state allies. If there is a further escalation in the Iran war between Washington and Tehran, the Houthi militia could again bring shipping traffic through the Suez Canal to a standstill with threats and attacks at the entrance to the Red Sea. This would not only have consequences for international trade.
If new fighting breaks out between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis and the Iran war expands to include the Saudi kingdom, this could lead to problems in Pakistan’s mediation efforts in the war between Washington and Tehran, according to Pakistani diplomatic circles. Pakistan, which has had a military alliance with Saudi Arabia since last year, could “be forced to enter the conflict” in this case, a Pakistani diplomat told the dpa news agency. (sda/dpa)