Iran and US widen attacks, raising fears for Gulf shipping and water supplies

DUBAI/CAIRO - Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on July 20 they had struck US military assets across the Middle East after another night of US bombardment of Iranian cities, part of a cycle of attacks that has all but wrecked an interim ceasefire agreement.

Oil prices briefly jumped above US$90 a barrel after renewed disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, while US President Donald Trump defended the latest strikes as retaliation for American military deaths, despite mounting political pressure at home from rising gasoline prices.

The conflict also escalated with attacks on desalination facilities, raising the prospect of water shortages across parts of the Gulf and opening a new front in a war that is increasingly threatening civilian infrastructure.

Yet even as both sides traded strikes, Tehran and Washington separately signalled they had not ruled out a return to negotiations.

Trump said the latest US strikes were carried out “in honour of the... great patriots”, referring to as many as three US service members killed in recent Iranian attacks.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said two oil tankers had “exploded” and were immobilised after attempting to transit the strait via an “unsafe” route.

On July 19, the IRGC had said two ships were involved in an “accident” in the same area. It was unclear whether the two incidents were related.

Reuters could not immediately verify the incident.

The IRGC statement gave no details about the vessels or any casualties.

Separately, a vessel was struck by an unknown projectile off Oman’s coast, overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said.

The vessel remains adrift but the crew are safe, it said.

In a statement, US Central Command said its ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran aimed at “degrading” the country’s ability to attack commercial vessels in the strait’s vital shipping lanes. It gave no further details.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said US missiles had struck several Iranian cities early on July 20.

Explosions were reported in Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini.

One person was killed and several others wounded south-west of Tabriz, according to state news agency IRNA.

The IRGC said it targeted US aircraft at Jordan’s Aqaba airport with ballistic missiles, as well as military assets at Kuwait’s Al-Adiri camp and Ali Al Salem Air Base, and positions in Syria.

Sirens sounded in Bahrain on the morning of July 20, the interior ministry said, while Kuwait’s army said it intercepted hostile drones during an Iranian attack.

Desalination plant attacked

Kuwait’s government said a desalination plant had been attacked on July 19 for the second day running, causing a fire, in what it called a direct strike on vital civilian infrastructure.

Desalination facilities supply most drinking water in many Gulf states, serving tens of millions of people in one of the world’s driest regions.

Iran, which accused the United States on July 18 of hitting one of its own desalination plants, has repeatedly said it would target such plants in Gulf states in retaliation for US attacks on its energy infrastructure.

The US did not confirm that it had struck an Iranian desalination facility.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed that the United States would continue to target Iran as long as it attacked global commercial shipping.

“As long as Iran insists on controlling an international waterway, we’re gonna have to respond to that. The United States always remains open to a diplomatic solution,” Rubio said.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry signalled that Tehran also did not rule out a return to diplomacy despite the escalating violence, when asked if the door to talks with the US was now closed.

“Diplomacy is a tool through which we pursue our national interests, just like war,” spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on July 20.

Baghaei also said Iran’s interior minister would hold talks on July 20 in Pakistan - the main mediator between Tehran and Washington since the start of the conflict - though he said it was a visit focused on bilateral issues.

The conflict, which began when the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb 28, seeking to disable Tehran’s nuclear and missile programmes and weaken its regional proxies, has killed thousands of people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon.

Pain at the gas pump

US gasoline pump prices crossed the US$4 a gallon mark on July 20, a price point of financial pain for households.

They had dipped below that threshold in June after the US and Iran signed their memorandum of understanding to end the war.

Trump’s Republican Party faces the risk of a voter backlash in midterm congressional elections in November.

The US military said two service personnel died in Jordan on July 17 and that a third was missing in action.

On July 19, Central Command said that “unidentified remains” had been found at the site of July 17’s attack and that “an examination process to verify the remains is ongoing”.

Trump said the campaign against Iran was achieving its aims.

“Iran has been very, very badly damaged... We control the strait. They don’t control anything... But we hit them very hard again tonight. And we did that in honor of the – probably three, it’s probably three, as opposed to two – great patriots.” REUTERS