US disables second vessel as Iran blockade deepens Gulf conflict

Irbil,UPDATED: Jul 25, 2026 04:16 IST

The US military said on Friday it fired on another merchant vessel that tried to breach its blockade of Iranian ports, as Iran targeted American positions around the Persian Gulf. There was no sign of either side stepping back after a 13th straight night of strikes, with both Washington and Tehran taking steps that suggested the conflict could widen further.

As fighting intensified and diplomacy remained uncertain, US embassies in 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 with US troops. At the centre of the conflict is the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy supplies that has been effectively shut by Iranian attacks, pushing up fuel prices and adding to economic disruption.

US Central Command spokesman Capt Tim Hawkins told The Associated Press that American forces disabled the M/T Lavine in the Gulf of Oman after it tried at least four times to run the blockade. Hawkins said the ship’s crew had been warned but did not comply with commands, after which the military fired into its engine room. It is the second commercial vessel to be disabled since the blockade was reimposed. Central Command also said it had redirected 12 vessels.

Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran were “by far the most serious that we’ve seen”, even as US strikes continued daily. “We’re locked and loaded and ready to go, but we’re talking to them,” Trump told reporters, adding that he was “not in a hurry” to end the war. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, vowing that Iran “will not bow to US” bullying, said Tehran was in contact with China and Russia and told the semi-official Tasnim news outlet that the Islamic Republic is “neither intimidated by threats nor will we yield to pressure.”

In Irbil in northern Iraq, where a contingent of American military advisers is 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 its airport, where US forces are based. US military officials did not comment on the apparent attacks. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted the US base in Udairi, Kuwait, destroying three ammunition and storage sheds, and had also struck a watchtower used by the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. US Central Command did not respond to questions on those claims. Bahrain and Jordan separately said they had intercepted Iranian aerial attacks on Friday.

As the attacks continued, the US struck a Revolutionary Guard naval base in northern Iran, according to the semi-official Fars and ISNA news outlets. Blasts from US bombardment were also reported on Iran’s Qeshm Island, which hosts naval assets including drone boats, as well as in Isfahan province, home to a major Iranian air base and one of Iran’s nuclear sites. Additional strikes were reported in Khuzestan in the southwest and Fars in the south. Central Command said the latest barrage was meant to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters” as the US pushed to reopen the strait, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas passed in peacetime.

An Omani diplomatic delegation was in Tehran on Friday to discuss managing shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran’s state news agency. Iran’s ability to close the waterway has given it significant leverage in any talks, and that leverage grew after its Houthi allies targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday. The attacks followed Houthi threats to shut the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Saudi-linked shipping. The waterway links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, and about 12 per cent of global trade, including one-fourth of container traffic worldwide, passes through it. Saudi Arabia has been forced to divert millions of barrels of oil a day to avoid the route. Trump has threatened “major military punishment” against the Houthis if the attacks continue. Brent crude slipped slightly on Friday to about USD 96 a barrel, but remained well above the roughly USD 72 level 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 kept rising. 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”, and his office said some seafarers had been abandoned by shipowners and left to “fend for themselves without food, water, fuel, medical care, electricity or means to communicate with their families.” There were no public signs of a diplomatic breakthrough. 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 that the US must change its position. The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and have since offered shifting goals for the war, including toppling Tehran’s government and ending its nuclear programme. Israel also signalled in recent days that it could rejoin the conflict, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office saying he would travel to the US next week to meet Trump. The fighting on Friday underlined that the war remains active on several fronts, with military action, shipping disruption and diplomatic contacts continuing at the same time.

With PTI Inputs

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