President Trump threatened Wednesday to "bomb and destroy" an Iranian bridge or power plant for every new attack by Iran on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. After an 11th night of strikes on Iran, the U.S. military insisted the Strait of Hormuz "remains open." But Iran continues attacking ships in the strait, as well as Gulf states, while its Houthi allies threaten the Middle East's other shipping gateway, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, fueling a sharp rise in oil prices over the last two weeks.
President Trump attended a dignified transfer Wednesday for U.S. forces killed in Iranian strikes in recent days. In total, 18 U.S.
service members have been killed since the start of the war. The leader of the Iranian Parliament warned "no infrastructure will be safe" in the Middle East if President Trump carries out his threat to bomb a bridge or power plant for each vessel Iran targets in the Strait of Hormuz. "In the region where we do not sell oil, no one else will sell oil either," Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran's Parliament, said on X.
"If our security is not guaranteed, no infrastructure will be safe." Traffic through the strait has ostensibly been halted by Iran targeting vessels traveling through the waterway. "The security of the Strait depends on the absence of American forces," Ghalibaf said. "We have repeatedly stated that the situation regarding the Strait will not return to the pre-war status quo." "The equation for this war is clear: it is all or nothing," he said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi offered similar words, saying, "Our defense doctrine is clear: eye for an eye." "Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response," Araghchi, a key member of the ceasefire negotiating team, wrote on X . "Those who contribute to such aggression, whatever the kind of support, will also be considered as legitimate targets." https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-trump-strait-hormuz-oil-prices-red-sea-houthis/#post-update-0e21cd7b link copied The U.S. has intercepted nine commercial vessels either trying to enter or leave Iranian ports since the blockade was restarted on July 14, according to U.S.
Central Command. In the last 24 hours, the blockade redirected one commercial vessel, per the military. President Trump touted the blockade's effectiveness before a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday.
"The blockade is up, and fully," he said. "I mean, nobody gets through. Nobody gets through the blockade.
It's like a steel wall." https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-trump-strait-hormuz-oil-prices-red-sea-houthis/#post-update-e31d8a00 link copied Iraq has lost more than $40 billion in revenue since the start of the Middle East war, mostly due to a sharp decline in its oil exports, a government official said on Wednesday. The conflict and Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz choked off shipments and prompted production cuts in key oil-producing countries including Iraq, shaking world energy markets. Before the war, which began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, Iraq produced around 4 million barrels per day, and exported an average of 3.5 million barrels per day, mostly via the Strait of Hormuz.
But the OPEC founding member was forced to halt production in most of its oil fields as reservoirs filled up, limiting its exports to routes via neighboring Turkey and Syria. Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair said during a TV interview on Tuesday that his ministry "used to put between $7 to $8 billion a month" into the state's coffers. "Today, we do not exceed $1.5 billion," he added.
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-trump-strait-hormuz-oil-prices-red-sea-houthis/#post-update-d40b6d47 link copied Republican Sen. Rand Paul offered an unqualified criticism of the war with Iran on Tuesday. "The Iran war has not been a success," Paul told reporters on Capitol Hill.
"I've been opposed to the Iran war from the beginning. I think by any objective measure, we're worse off than we were before the war." When asked what can be done about the war, Paul pointed to the War Powers Act, which he has long supported, saying, "the Constitution is pretty clear that we should always ask for the people's approval through the Congress." But Paul said the practical aspect of asking if we are better off is more clear-cut. "If you look at the militarization of the Strait of Hormuz, that's never happened before," Paul said.
"There's not an easy way to unmilitarize the strait, and so far continues to be militarized." "So, from that point of view, I think we're in worse shape," Paul continued. "You could argue we have some leverage because we've defeated them militarily to maybe get a better negotiated settlement, but so far we haven't seen the advantage play out in negotiations." https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-trump-strait-hormuz-oil-prices-red-sea-houthis/#post-update-91735322 link copied The U.S. military's Central Command repeated an assertion on Tuesday evening that has been made by the Trump administration many times over the last two weeks, insisting that "despite Iranian aggression, the Strait of Hormuz remains open for commercial vessel traffic." CENTCOM acknowledged in the same statement that Iran had launched more than 30 attacks on commercial vessels since the war began, which it said had "endangered hundreds of innocent mariners and undermined freedom of navigation." Despite the U.S.
president and military continuing to urge vessels to use a southern route through the strait, in defiance of Iran's threats, few shippers seem willing to risk it. The Joint Maritime Information Center in Bahrain, a military partnership that includes the U.S., said commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz fell to a three-week low on Tuesday amid ongoing Iranian attacks. "Owners and operators — and crews, predominately — are really not feeling the safety they would need in order to have their vessels transit, and now we're seeing the same thing in the Bab el-Mandeb, which is absolutely horrendous," Maniatis told CBS News.
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-trump-strait-hormuz-oil-prices-red-sea-houthis/#post-update-e441d2a4 link copied U.S. strikes on Iran have killed 53 people and injured 592 over the past month, according to the Iranian Ministry of Health. The death toll, which was counted from June 27 to July 22, includes six women and three children, according to Hossein Kermanpour, the head of public relations for the ministry.
"Among the injured are 39 women and 23 individuals under the age of 18," Kermanpour said in a post on X . https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-trump-strait-hormuz-oil-prices-red-sea-houthis/#post-update-2c79672f link copied Italy is to hold a further round of talks between Israel and Lebanon on Aug. 4, the Italian foreign minister said Wednesday.
It will be the seventh round of direct talks between the two countries, which do not have formal diplomatic relations. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the next round would be "an important result led by a patient action of foreign policy that builds bridges and never walls ." Israel and Lebanon began U.S.-brokered negotiations in April to reach a peace deal and end the war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group. Hezbollah, which was not directly involved, has described the Lebanese government's involvement in the talks as "appeasement." Hezbollah has rejected the conditions of previous agreements.
After the previous round of negotiations in Rome last week, the Israeli army started withdrawing forces from "pilot zones" in southern Lebanon, to allow Lebanon's army to assume control. https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-trump-strait-hormuz-oil-prices-red-sea-houthis/#post-update-d557c789 link copied President Trump's assertion that Iran has asked for a meeting to resume negotiations is "completely...
