A group linked to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is deploying America First-ish rhetoric against Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the GOP's most vulnerable incumbent in 2026, for backing the Iran war. Why it matters: Public support for the Iran war is wavering, and Democrats are trying to turn Collins' support for it into a political liability. Collins voted against a bill in March that would have restrained President Trump's ability to carry out military action in Iran. She said after the vote that "unequivocal support to our service members is critically important." Collins voted against a Democratic bill last year to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits and repeal Medicaid cuts. But she did support other individual efforts to extend the health care tax credits. The big picture: Democrats are dealing with their own divide on Iran, including in Maine. Gov. Janet Mills, running for Senate, has criticized Trump's unilateral decision to attack Iran without consulting Congress. Mills is Schumer's endorsed candidate in the Maine Senate Democratic primary. But progressive Graham Platner, who is leading Mills in polls, has been aggressively opposed to the war, holding an anti-war protest in the state this month. The other side: "Chuck Schumer can't figure what to do in Maine," Collins campaign spokesperson Shawn Roderick told us in a statement. "Janet Mills continues to struggle and he is afraid to attack Graham Platner because he knows the national progressives will have a fit. So instead, he resorts to his usual ways and throws lies and half-truths at Senator Collins. Mainers have seen Senator Schumer do this over and over again, and they know better." The bottom line: Maine, with just 1.5 million residents, is on track to become the most expensive race per capita in the country. The same Democratic group spent $2 million on ads against Collins in the Maine Senate race just last month. Almost $37 million has been spent on ads in the race so far, according to AdImpact.
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A tanker identified as the Kaifan was struck by an unknown projectile northeast of Oman’s Limah in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a July 21 report from UK Maritime Trade Operations. No ships were observed transiting the strait that day. Attribution of the strike and links to prior incidents have not been confirmed by the vessel’s owner.
Goldman Sachs has projected Brent crude averaging $80 per barrel in the fourth quarter and $75 in the following year, conditional on reduced Middle East tensions, while noting upside risks from potential shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz or Red Sea.
Brent prices rose above $91 per barrel amid recent U.S.-Iran exchanges and Houthi threats to Saudi shipments before edging lower on Tuesday. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that mediators had proposed a 10-day ceasefire to preserve an interim agreement.
Opening summary: Iran claims attacks on strait of Hormuz ships amid fresh US strikes Welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in the Middle East crisis. Iran attacked a tanker in the strait of Hormuz early on Tuesday, forcing its crew to abandon the ship, as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis announced they were imposing an immediate maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea after the two sides traded fire last week for the first time in years.
A Houthi official said the Bab al-Mandeb strait – at the southern end of the Red Sea, through which about 12% of the world’s trade usually passes – would be closed to the Saudis in response to the kingdom’s “unjust blockade on Yemenis for over 10 years”.
Saudi Arabia said it would take “all necessary measures to protect its vessels in accordance with international law”. A 10 consecutive night of US airstrikes has not compelled Tehran to loosen its grip on the strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global energy supplies.
But even as Iran’s president said the country had returned “full-scale war”, the Iranian interior minister travelled to Pakistan – a key mediator in the conflict – for talks. In key developments: The latest US strikes came hours after Donald Trump said Iran would pay “many times over” for killing US soldiers after multiple service members were killed in action over the weekend.
A tanker came under attack early Tuesday in the Hormuz strait off Oman, forcing the crew to abandon the vessel, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed the attack as well as two other attacks on ships in the waterway on Monday.
The US military’s Central Command said its latest airstrikes were to “degrade” Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the strait and included hitting military command centres and missile and drone launch sites. Iranian media reported strikes in parts of the country including Bandar Abbas, Tabriz and Bushehr, home to the country’s only operational civilian nuclear power.
Iran’s launched attacks in response against Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, which all host US forces. Oil prices softened after hitting their highest levels in more than a month in the previous session. Brent crude futures eased 0.4% to $88.87 a barrel by 0052 GMT on Tuesday while US West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was steady at $82.
47 a barrel. Democrats have seized on the deaths of three US troops killed in Iranian strikes to urge Trump to urgently reverse his resumption of the war with Iran amid widespread anxiety over climbing casualties. The Lebanese army began taking charge of security in three southern villages, the US said, as a deal to secure an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah faced its first test on the ground.
US forces struck the tanker Settebello in the Gulf of Oman on June 10, killing three Indian crew members when munitions hit the engine room and adjacent areas. Maritime tracking data indicate the vessel had transported Iranian oil under US sanctions for several years and conducted offshore transfers prior to the strike.
The US military described the action as a precision operation, while reports note the ship was stationary at the time.