strikeMar 14, 2026

US preparing for ‘littoral warfare’ in Strait of Hormuz | The Jerusalem Post

Summary

The US is moving thousands of US Marines to the Middle East as the Iran war continues into its third week. Axios reported on March 13 that US “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is sending an amphibious assault ship, the USS Tripoli, and its Marine expeditionary unit to the Middle East, a senior US official confirmed to Axios on Friday." More than 2,500 Marines are likely in the war. The deployment offers Marines and the rest of the US military the chance to finally engage in “littoral warfare,” a concept that has been discussed for decades. In the wake of the Cold War, when the concept of two large conventional armies going toe-to-toe with nuclear arms became less relevant, there was a sense that warfare might shift toward smaller operations. In 1993, Ralph Stokes and Richard Thompson wrote in the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Technical Digest that “the end of the Cold War and the potential increase of worldwide regional conflicts have produced a significant change in US military and maritime strategy. Many future conflicts will involve joint operations of all forces and will include situations that culminate in massive and highly coordinated power projection operations from the sea.” They noted that “Littoral operations present many stressing and unique challenges and require some rethinking of the broad range of naval roles and missions. This article examines the naval roles, missions, and implications of littoral operations, and identifies key technologies and capabilities required to meet the objectives with maximum effect and minimum losses.” In their paper, they were prescient. They noted that “by definition, littoral warfare involves operations near shore as well as in more confining sea regions, such as the Strait of Hormuz or the Persian Gulf. Near shore means close enough to bring force to bear on the adjacent land, and may range from a few miles for covert surveillance or naval gunfire support to hundreds of miles for aircraft carrier strike operations.” Today, the Strait of Hormuz is in the spotlight, and so is Littoral warfare. The US carried out airstrikes on Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf on Friday, hitting military sites on the island. The island accounts for more than 90% of Iran’s oil exports. Oil reaches the island via pipelines. There are other small islands that may soon be in the spotlight. Time Magazine noted that “three strategically located islands - Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb - positioned at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz are at the center of a decades-long dispute between Iran and the United Arab Emirates.” An issue going back decades Although there are arguments in the media about whether the US planned for Iran to block the Strait of Hormuz, it is clear that the military has been concerned about this issue for decades. In an article at the US Naval Institute in 2012 by Captain Robert Carney Powers, he noted that “blockage of the Strait of Hormuz by a hostile power was a frequent scenario. The "US-supported nation" (the "Blue" coalition nation) was in need of timely reinforcements to succeed. Red could best succeed by using its significant land forces to seize key objectives before the United States could get more troops and equipment into position. Breaking through the chokepoint at the Strait of Hormuz was essential to ensure the flow of logistic, amphibious, and troop ships into Blue ports. It also was essential to maintain the flow of oil from Middle East nations to the world economy.” When wargaming how the US Navy or a friendly navy would break a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, it became clear the operation would take “weeks, not days.” As time went by, “this resulted in a logistical bottleneck; troop ships and supplies couldn’t get through the choke point. Large ships piled up waiting for the order to proceed. No oil was transported out of the Persian Gulf. The world economy suffered. Meanwhile, Red ground forces were moving toward their key objectives,” notes Powers in 2012. The US realized it needed smaller ships, leading to the concept of a “littoral combat ship.” This resulted in two types of ships, the USS Freedom and USS Independence, being launched between 2006 and 2008. However, the results of investment in the littoral ships didn’t lead to solving the problem. “As currently configured (weapons, manning, concept), is the LCS up to the tasks it could soon face (in the Strait of Hormuz and elsewhere)? The answer is regretfully ‘no,’” notes Powers. “It has taken 17-plus years since the LCS concept was born to come up with a flawed ship. What must go to accommodate the systems needed to make it relevant to its tasks? The LCS is, after all, a 3,000-ton ship (much larger than a World War II destroyer escort, and three-fourths the size of a Perry- or Knox-class frigate). The space for needed capability can be found.” Littoral combat in the Indo-Pacific Recently, the questions about littoral combat have shifted to focus on the Indo-Pacific, “where China’s militarization of artificial islands, deployment of hypersonic antiship missiles, and expansion of naval and coast guard assets have turned the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait into potential flash points,” an article at the US Naval Institute noted in 2025. Sebastian Bae, who served six years in the Marine Corps, designed a wargame called "Littoral Commander" to simulate the challenges in the Indo-Pacific. As noted by Andrew Feickert, who has written about the US Marine Corps Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR), “in March 2020, the US Marine Corps (USMC) announced a major force design initiative planned to occur over 10 years originally referred to as ‘Force Design 2030,’ which is now known as ‘Force Design.’ Under Force Design, the Marines are redesigning their forces to place greater emphasis on naval expeditionary warfare. As part of the redesign, the Marines originally planned to establish at least three Marine Littoral Regiments (MLRs) organized, trained, and equipped to accomplish a number of missions within contested maritime spaces.” It's now possible that the Marines and the US military in general may engage in the kind of littoral combat that has been discussed for decades. Dan Lamothe, who writes on military affairs for The Washington Post, noted on X the kind of units being sent to the Middle East today: “A Marine expeditionary unit, a foundational force for the Marine Corps that typically deploys on ships but also go ashore as needed.” He notes that an “MEU typically has an infantry battalion, an aviation unit with jets and helicopters, and a logistics component. In this case, it's the 31st MEU from Okinawa, Japan. The infantry battalion training with this MEU is 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, of Camp Pendleton. They are assigned on a rotational basis. Total number of personnel in the full MEU: About 2,200 to 2,400.” It will arrive with the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group, consisting of the USS Tripoli and two other vessels (in this case, USS San Diego and USS New Orleans). Navy personnel in an ARG typically number about 2,000, though it can vary. Counting the Marines, that's 4,200 to 4,400 total additional deployers. They work hand-in-hand. Decades of American thought, planning, wargaming, and training have gone into this moment. Far from being a shocking scenario, the closure of the Straits has been imagined for decades. This is unsurprising considering that the 1980s Iran-Iraq war provided a blueprint for many of the challenges we are seeing today.

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Jul 21, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIsraelIranProxy

US strikes Iran for 10th consecutive night as Tehran strikes tanker in the Strait of Hormuz

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran attacked a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday, forcing its crew to abandon the ship, while the United States conducted yet another round of airstrikes targeting the Islamic Republic as they struggle over control of the key waterway.

The 10 consecutive nights of U.S. airstrikes haven’t compelled Tehran to loosen its grip on the strait, through which about a fifth of all crude oil and natural gas traded once passed in peacetime. Even as the U.S. and Iran inch closer to all-out war again, Iran’s interior minister traveled to Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict, for talks.

However, it remains unclear just what new deal could be reached to end the fighting. The interim deal signed last month that was meant to end the fighting has crumbled. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. And as fighting intensifies, both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people.

“Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other U.S. interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world,” the U.S. State Department said in a new warning to Americans. The escalation has pushed oil prices higher in recent weeks.

Benchmark Brent crude traded Tuesday above $88 a barrel and regular gasoline in the U.S. climbed to an average of $4 a gallon, keeping pressure on Americans’ wallets ahead of midterm elections this fall. Meanwhile, the U.S. military identified two soldiers who were killed in Jordan in attacks that left a third person missing.

Separately, the military confirmed another death in Iraq on Saturday during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone. President Donald Trump took to social media on Monday to warn that “Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!

” Trump was planning to attend a ceremony on Tuesday evening at Dover Air Force Base, where at least one service member’s remains were due to arrive. US strikes come as ships attacked The U.S. military’s Central Command said Tuesday it targeted “Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and air defense systems.

” It released more footage of bombings that targeted sites in Iran. “American forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression toward civilian mariners seeking to freely and openly transit the strait,” the command said.

Iranian state media reported that explosions were heard in Fars, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman and Sistan and Baluchistan provinces. However, traffic through the strait has slowed to a crawl during the latest violence. Lloyd's List Intelligence said only three ships transited the strait on Sunday.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said a tanker came under attack early Tuesday in the strait off Oman, forcing the crew to abandon the vessel. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed the attack, as well as two other attacks on ships Monday in the waterway.

The route around Oman has been the one the U.S. military has encouraged ships to travel to avoid Iran’s control. The UKMTO separately reported Tuesday that another previously unknown attack on a ship took place early the previous day. Tehran also hit U.

S.-allied countries throughout the Middle East. Jordan military's said Tuesday that Iran targeted it with five drones and three missiles, all of which were shot down. Bahrain sounded its missile alert sirens Tuesday afternoon as another Iranian barrage targeted the island kingdom, which is home to the U.

S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Nearly 100 US injuries since early July The Pentagon’s chief spokesperson said nearly 100 U.S. service members have been injured since the U.S. restarted strikes on July 7, and 96% of them have returned to duty.

“The vast majority of injuries experienced were minor concussions,” Sean Parnell posted Monday on X in response to a New York Times report that the Pentagon has withheld information about troop injuries from Iranian strikes. He denied that the Pentagon was hiding data about injuries.

However, the Defense Casualty Analysis System, the military’s clearinghouse for reporting deaths and injuries in conflict, has not been updated as of Monday night with the latest attacks. Yemen rebels threaten attacks on other Mideast waterway Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia on Monday.

The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, said they would block shipping between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden by targeting the Bab el-Mandeb, a maritime chokepoint like the Strait of Hormuz, in response to an attack on Sanaa International Airport last week that they blamed on Saudi Arabia.

With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, Saudi Arabia has been relying on a pipeline to the Red Sea to get millions of barrels of oil out to market. The Houthis earlier demonstrated their ability to disrupt shipping there when they targeted ships for months over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, with over 100 vessels attacked.

Saudi Arabia’s military said it would keep the waterway open. “All Houthi threats against transiting vessels will be dealt with swiftly and firmly, as such threats are a blatant violation of international law and fall under acts of maritime piracy,” said Maj.

Gen, Turki al-Malki, a Saudi military spokesman. A glimmer of hope for diplomacy Pakistan has intensified diplomatic efforts in recent days to resuscitate the interim deal. Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni arrived in Islamabad on Monday for two days of talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and others.

On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the U.S. is still open to negotiating with Iran but that “it has to be real.” “If the door opens to diplomacy — if the guys that want to do something productive for Iran win and take control of that system, or take control of the negotiations — that’ll be a very positive development,” Rubio said.

“That’s not where we are tonight, unfortunately.” Iranian authorities on Sunday said at least 50 people have been killed and 517 wounded in the latest rounds of U.S. strikes. Since the war began on Feb. 28, 17 U.S. service members have been killed.

JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press

Jul 21, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIranRussiaChina

How the US-Iran conflict has thrown India’s Chabahar plans into doubt

○ 1 source

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth posted social media images showing damage to a maritime control tower at Iran’s Chabahar port following reported US military strikes, accompanied by the caption “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz.” India’s Ministry of External Affairs stated that the Shahid Beheshti terminal operated by India at the port sustained no damage.

The ministry reiterated its position that civilian infrastructure should not be targeted during conflicts.

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U.S. strikes Iran and Houthis threaten Saudi Arabia shipping as mediators push 10-day ceasefire

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The U.S. Central Command reported conducting strikes on Iranian military command centers, missile and drone sites, and air defense systems on Monday evening. Iran attacked a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday, and Houthi forces declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia.

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Jul 21, 2026strikeUnverifiedIsraelIranProxy

How Houthi Red Sea blockade tightens Iran's grip on energy supplies

○ 1 source

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis announced Monday they would impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, further throttling a global energy market already greatly restricted by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz. This is why it matters and what it means for the Iran war and the global energy crisis.

It is not clear how the Houthis would carry out a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia, its northern neighbor along the Red Sea coast, or whether it would include a return to attacks on shipping. Yemen sits on the Bab el-Mandeb strait – the southern gateway to the Red Sea – and closing that would open up a new front in the energy crisis and Iran's overarching conflict with the U.

S. With the Strait of Hormuz already disrupted, the Red Sea has become a critical alternative outlet for Gulf oil and other products. A serious disruption would mean both of the Middle East's major oil export routes are shut simultaneously. Iran's partial blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after Israel and the U.

S. attacked it on Feb. 28 disrupted most oil and other exports from the Gulf, raising prices and delivering a global energy shock. Saudi Arabia responded by diverting more than 70% of its normal daily crude exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Ships from Yanbu bound for Europe go north through the Suez Canal.

Those heading to Asia go south through Bab el-Mandeb. Shipments from Yanbu averaged 4 million barrels per day in recent weeks according to data from Kpler and Signal Ocean, up from around 973,000 bpd a year earlier. Total petroleum volumes transiting Bab el-Mandeb amounted to 7.

4 million bpd in June, or about 7% of global oil output, according to Kpler data, up from 4.2 million bpd last year. That has provided a lifeline for the energy market, helping to keep down global oil prices. Saudi Arabia is considering an expansion of its crude oil pipeline to the Red Sea coast, Reuters reported last week.

When the Houthis launched attacks on Red Sea shipping in November 2023, Gulf oil exports were flowing freely. The Houthis have been in a civil war against the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government for more than a decade and have attacked Gulf neighbors with missiles and drones.

However, a 2022 truce between the country's warring sides largely held until last week, when Yemen's internationally recognized government said it had struck Sanaa airport to stop an Iranian plane landing. The Houthis said Saudi Arabia was responsible and, in response, fired missiles at Abha airport in the kingdom's mountainous southwest.

A senior Houthi official, politburo member Mohammad al-Farah, then warned in an interview on Iran's Press TV website that if the situation kept escalating, Bab el-Mandeb would be closed. The U.S. says Iran has armed, funded and trained the Houthis with help from Hezbollah.

The Houthis deny being an Iranian proxy and say they develop their own weapons. It is not clear how far the group's stance on Bab el-Mandeb and the Red Sea stems from its own strategic priorities or is being made on Iran's behalf. After Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza, the Houthis began firing at Israel and on shipping in the Red Sea, saying they were doing so in support of Palestinians.

The attacks severely disrupted global shipping, prompting Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and other major companies to divert around Africa – a far longer, more expensive route. Red Sea traffic has not recovered since, with traffic through the Suez Canal down 52% in 2025 versus 2023 levels and at its lowest in at least 50 years, Suez Canal Authority data shows.

A U.S.-led mission to restore free navigation in the Red Sea involved repeated strikes on Houthi targets and a campaign that shot down hundreds of drones and missiles. But some Houthi attacks continued until last summer, only ending completely with the Gaza cease-fire in October.

Last month, the Houthis said they would ban ships linked to Israel from the Red Sea after Israel renewed military attacks on Iran. However, that threat was never acted on and shipping groups Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are resuming some Red Sea routes that they had abandoned during the Houthi attacks last year, Maersk said this month.

While Hezbollah and the Iraqi groups joined the war early with rocket and drone fire after the first U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, the Houthis had been comparatively quiet. The group's leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on March 5: "Our fingers are on the trigger at any moment should developments warrant it.

" Iranian commanders have repeatedly warned that the Houthis could join the war. The Houthis launched a few missile and drone attacks on Israel in late March and early April. Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander Esmaeil Qaani said on June 1 they could choke off the Red Sea.

That may now have changed with their announcement of the blockade on Monday against Saudi Arabia in retaliation for what they called the kingdom's siege of its ports and airports, including last week's strike.

Reuters