The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) sails behind the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), June 27, 2026. Frank E. Petersen Jr. deployed to the US 5th Fleet area of operations and maritime security stability in the Middle East.
Source: US Navy
The US military on Sunday continued its operation aimed at destroying Tehran’s ability to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
“CENTCOM began conducting new strikes against Iran at 7 p.m. ET tonight for the ninth time in a row,” US Central Command said on X, adding that the strikes will continue to degrade Iranian military capabilities used to attack ships crossing the river.
The warring powers have stepped up their offensive in the region, raising fears of a return to full-scale war, with Washington and Tehran accusing each other of violating a cooperation agreement reached in June.
The waterway, which carried about 20% of the world’s oil traffic before the war, has become the central battleground of the war that began on February 28, when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran. Oil edged higher, with Brent crude futures up nearly 3% to around $90.7 a barrel, while US WTI futures rose 2.5% to $84.6.
The population continued to rise over the weekend. The US military said on Sunday that a third US service member had been killed in the latest war with Iran, and that they had found unidentified remains in Jordan after the service member was listed as missing, bringing the number of US service members killed in the five-month war to 17.
Iranian authorities said on Sunday that at least 50 people had been killed and more than 500 injured in renewed US strikes this month.
“The memorandum does not say much about how disputed incidents will be investigated or how violations of certain laws will affect commitments elsewhere,” said Michael Feller, chief strategist at Geopolitical Strategy. The lack of clarity in the memorandum meant that the incident quickly became a dispute over whether there was still an agreement, he said.
US strikes have been expanded in recent days to target civilian infrastructure, including the Bonji desalination plant which has cut off water to about 10,000 people.
Tehran also retaliated across the Gulf with new attacks on targets in neighboring countries, including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. Kuwaiti officials said last Friday that Iranian missile and drone strikes targeted civilian infrastructure in the country, including a desalination plant.
The American embassy in the capital of Bahrain, Manama, said on Monday that it has information suggesting that Iran may want to target unspecified areas in the city, urging all Americans to remain vigilant.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Monday that two oil tankers “exploded” while trying to navigate the “unsafe and dangerous route south of the Strait of Hormuz.” Iranian authorities have warned ships against using the southern corridor supported by the US and Oman, insisting that only Iranian-designated routes are allowed.
Traffic in Hormuz fell to its lowest level in three weeks amid renewed conflict, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler, with just eight people killed on Thursday compared to 15 the previous day.
American officials, however, insisted that the flow was continuing. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that about two-thirds of pre-conflict traffic — about 14 million barrels a day — was passing through the exit. About 20 million barrels of crude oil and refined products passed through the waters before the collision.
In an interview with ABC on Sunday, Wright said that public reports showing that many transport vehicles have stopped in recent days are not true, he estimated that it was about two-thirds of the normal flow.
