Iran-US conflict enters 13th night as Strait of Hormuz disruption worsens

Irbil,UPDATED: Jul 25, 2026 03:36 IST

Iran and the United States traded fresh attacks on Friday, extending their conflict into a 13th straight night with no clear sign of either side stepping back. As fighting intensified, both sides also signalled the possibility of further escalation, while diplomatic efforts remained uncertain.

Iran targeted US positions around the Persian Gulf, while the US struck several Iranian military sites. The conflict has also deepened fears over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global energy supplies that has been effectively shut down by Iranian attacks, pushing up fuel prices and adding to wider economic disruption.

US embassies across the Middle East began warning Americans in the region that options to leave could become more limited. Iran's Revolutionary Guard, meanwhile, advised people in neighbouring countries to stay away from bases hosting US troops. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran "will not bow to US" bullying, pointed to ongoing discussions with China and Russia, and told the semiofficial Tasnim news outlet that the Islamic Republic is "neither intimidated by threats nor will we yield to pressure".

US President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran were "by far the most serious that we've seen", even as American strikes continued daily. "We're locked and loaded and ready to go, but we're talking to them," Trump told reporters on Friday, adding that he was "not in a hurry" to end the war.

In Iraq's northern city of Irbil, where American military advisers are based, security officials said US-led forces shot down five explosive-laden drones on Friday. Repeated blasts were heard across the city, and black smoke was seen near the airport, where US forces are based. US military officials did not respond to requests for comment. Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it had struck the US base in Udairi in Kuwait, setting three ammunition and storage sheds on fire and destroying them. It also claimed to have hit a watchtower used by the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, saying it was damaged. US Central Command did not respond to questions on those claims. Bahrain and Jordan both said they had intercepted Iranian aerial attacks on Friday.

At the same time, the US struck a Revolutionary Guard naval base in northern Iran, according to the semiofficial Fars and ISNA news agencies. US bombardment was also reported on Iran's Qeshm Island, where naval assets including drone boats are based, as well as in Isfahan province, home to a major Iranian air base and one of Iran's nuclear sites. Other reported strikes hit Khuzestan in the southwest and Fars province in the south. Central Command said the latest attacks were intended to "further degrade Iran's ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters" as the US tries to reopen the strait, through which one-fifth of the world's oil and gas passed in peacetime.

An Omani delegation was in Tehran on Friday to discuss management of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran's state news agency. Iran's ability to disrupt traffic through the strait has strengthened its hand in any potential talks. That pressure increased after the Houthis, allied with Iran, targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday. The attacks followed the Houthis' threat to shut the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Saudi-linked shipping. The waterway, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, and around 12 per cent of global trade, including a quarter of container traffic, passes through it. Saudi Arabia has already had to divert millions of barrels of oil a day to avoid the route. Trump has threatened "major military punishment" against the Houthis if the ship attacks continue.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, slipped slightly on Friday to about USD 96 a barrel, but remained far above the roughly USD 72 level seen before the war began. In the US, average petrol prices rose to USD 4.11 a gallon, according to AAA.

The human cost of the war also continued to mount. Iran's Health Ministry said 3,434 people had been killed since the conflict began. The Maritime Organization said at least 6,000 mariners were stranded on about 400 vessels around the Strait of Hormuz. UN human rights chief Volker Turk called for "urgent action" to help them. His office said the seafarers were exposed to the fighting and that some had been abandoned by ship owners, leaving them to "fend for themselves without food, water, fuel, medical care, electricity or means to communicate with their families".

There were no public signs of progress in negotiations. Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met Araghchi on Friday, but before the meeting the Iranian minister appeared to dismiss further mediation, saying he did not think the conflict needed more mediators and insisting that the US must change its position. The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and have since set out shifting war aims, including overthrowing Tehran's government and ending its nuclear programme. Israel has also indicated in recent days that it is willing to rejoin the conflict, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he would travel to the US next week to meet Trump. Overall, Friday's developments underlined the continued military escalation, deepening economic strain and the lack of any diplomatic breakthrough.

With PTI Inputs

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