US-Iran MOU Eases Energy Prices But Faces Sharp Pushback From Israel And GOP Hawks

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.

7 min readNew DelhiJul 21, 2026 03:06 PM IST A dramatic image posted on social media by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth last week fuelled concern in India. It showed the maritime control tower at Iran’s Chabahar port collapsing after US military strikes.

The image was part of a series of photographs posted by Hegseth, captioned: “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz”. While New Delhi is already reeling under the impact of US sanctions on its strategically vital infrastructure project in Iran, where it has invested billions, the military strikes sparked fresh concerns.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) clarified that the terminal it operates at Chabahar Port, Shahid Beheshti, was not damaged in the US strikes. “We have seen some reports in that regard, but we can also tell you that the terminal itself did not face any damage,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

The ministry, however, reiterated India’s position that civilian infrastructure should not be targeted during conflicts. Here’s a look at the strategic importance of Chabahar for India, New Delhi’s investment in the project and how its future hangs in the balance.

India’s stakes in Chabahar The Chabahar port has two main terminals — Shahid Beheshti and Shahid Kalantari — with India managing the latter. It is operated by India Ports Global Ltd (IPGL), a wholly owned subsidiary of India Ports Global Chabahar Free Zone (IPGCFZ), under a 10-year renewable agreement with Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organisation.

A tower at the Chabahar port in 2021. Wikimedia Commons India and Iran have been developing Chabahar as a key trade and connectivity hub, particularly to improve access to Afghanistan and Central Asia. Chabahar holds strategic importance for India as it provides an alternative trade route to Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan, which does not allow Indian goods transit through its territory.

For Iran, Chabahar is vital because it is its only oceanic port with direct access to the Indian Ocean, bypassing the congested Strait of Hormuz. To ensure its continuous operation, India and Iran signed a landmark 10-year contract in May 2024 — replacing previous short-term contracts — to equip and operate the Shahid Beheshti terminal.

To avoid financial penalties in the wake of US sanctions, India prepaid its $120 million investment and transferred its operational stake at Shahid Beheshti to local entities. Story continues below this ad US sanctions on Chabahar American sanctions on Chabahar stem from its broader economic and military measures against Tehran.

Despite India’s continued efforts to develop the port for regional connectivity, the history of these sanctions and waivers has severely restricted the project’s progress. The Donald Trump administration walked the US out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, and imposed sanctions on dealing with Tehran.

At the same time, it also granted a targeted sanctions waiver for the Chabahar port to support humanitarian and economic efforts in Afghanistan. Chabahar port location For several years, the port facilitated the delivery of Indian wheat and medical supplies to Afghanistan.

In September last year, the US administration withdrew the sanctions waiver, only to grant the exemption again through a six-month waiver in October that officially expired on April 26. Jaiswal said that India has been in discussions with “relevant stakeholders” after the expiry of the waiver.

Story continues below this ad “There was a waiver which was given by America and that waiver got over some time back. Post that, we have been in discussion with relevant stakeholders as to how to take this particular issue forward,” he said. Owing to the end of the sanctions waivers, India is losing its direct operational control over the Chabahar project.

Importance for New Delhi, Tehran Chabahar is vital for India not only because it provides direct, secure access to Afghanistan and Central Asia, but also because it serves as a counterweight to China’s development of the Gwadar Port in Pakistan, located just 140 km away.

The sea-land transit route that allows India to bypass Pakistan is also viewed as an important part of the International North-South Transport Corridor, a multi-mode transport network connecting India with Iran, Russia, Europe and parts of Central Asia.

In that sense, the port represents far more than maritime infrastructure. For Tehran, however, it also serves as a crucial economic hub in the Sistan-Baluchistan province, functioning as a gateway to connect Iran with landlocked Central Asian states, Afghanistan and Russia.

As Chabahar was hit by the US military strikes last week, Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei lashed at Hegeseth, talking about Chabahar in the same breath as the Minab school attack. “The Chabahar Maritime Surveillance Tower — a civilian facility dedicated to maritime safety and navigation — was deliberately targeted by the United States on 16 June as part of its ongoing aggression that began on 28 February.

The US Secretary of War proudly released footage of the tower’s collapse,” Baqaei posted. “Had he been able, he would likely have broadcast the lethal missile attack on the Minab school and the massacre of civilians in Lamerd with the same chilling pride.

” Future hangs in balance In 2024, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told Parliament that the grant assistance for the supply of equipment (to Chabahar) had been enhanced to $120 million. “India has also committed to provide a Line of Credit of $250 million in rupee equivalent for the development of Chabahar Port.

Since 2018, the port has handled over 450 vessels, 1,34,082 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent) of containerised cargo and more than 8.7 million tons of bulk and general cargo,” he said. Story continues below this ad India has already supplied port equipment worth about $24 million to develop the port, he said, adding: “The process for procurement of remaining port equipment for Chabahar Port is underway.

” Chabahar had received an allocation of Rs 400 allocation in the previous financial year. But the Union Budget for 2026-27 made no allocation for the port. This has left questions hanging over the future of this strategic trade route to Afghanistan, and further to Central Asia.

Without Chabahar, India loses its primary non-Pakistani corridor to landlocked markets, effectively undoing New Delhi’s decades of connectivity planning. The port had reduced transit times by 40% and costs by nearly a third, making it indispensable for India’s regional strategy.

Also, the situation is set to fuel strategic concerns for New Delhi if Beijing (via the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and through Gwadar) could increase its geopolitical footprint in Iran. The elimination of the Chabahar waiver by the US by default tilts the regional balance toward China and Pakistan.

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.

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.