The U.S. military says it has completed a 13th consecutive night of strikes against Iran, turning the latest phase of the Iran crisis into a sustained air campaign tied directly to the fight over shipping routes.
The new round is a distinct update from the earlier Friday coverage of Iranian claims against U.S. bases in Bahrain and Jordan and the separate Revolutionary Guard claim about an Amazon-linked data center in Bahrain. This time, the core development is Washington’s own strike-cycle statement: U.S. Central Command said the latest attacks were aimed at reducing Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels around the Strait of Hormuz.
The Associated Press, carried by The Vindicator, reported that CENTCOM announced the 13th night of attacks Thursday night as clashes escalated over shipping routes. CBS News reported that CENTCOM said the strikes ran for about two hours and targeted Iranian drone sites, command centers, and other targets tied to threats against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
That matters because the war is no longer moving in isolated bursts. It is now operating as a nightly pressure campaign, with the U.S. trying to reopen or protect the shipping lane and Iran insisting it can control, regulate, or punish traffic through the strait.
Iranian media reported blasts in several cities
Iranian state media reported explosions shortly after the latest U.S. strike announcement. AP reported blasts along the strait in Qeshm and Bandar Abbas, where two people were reportedly injured, and additional explosions near Andimeshk, Omidiyeh, and Firuzabad.
The Hindu reported that Iranian state media said four people were killed and five wounded in a U.S. missile attack near Ahvaz, while other reported strikes affected Lorestan province, Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Isfahan province, Khuzestan, and Fars. Those battlefield details remain heavily dependent on official or state-linked accounts from each side, so the casualty picture should still be treated carefully.
Al Jazeera also reported that CENTCOM said it had concluded air strikes for the 13th consecutive night, while Iranian media reported blasts in Khorramabad, Jask, Ahvaz, Bandar Abbas, and Qeshm Island.
The Red Sea is now part of the same pressure system
The Hormuz fight is also spilling into the Red Sea. AP reported that Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they struck two Saudi oil tankers, the Encelia and the Layla, in the Red Sea, causing fires on both vessels. Saudi state media reported an attack on the Encelia, while UKMTO said it received a report of a tanker hit by an unknown projectile southwest of Al Shuqaiq, Saudi Arabia.
The timing is what makes the development bigger than another isolated Houthi claim. Saudi Arabia has been using its Red Sea export route through Yanbu as a workaround while the Persian Gulf and Hormuz remain under pressure. If that route becomes harder to insure or operate, the oil market loses one of the main bypasses it was relying on.
AP cited Lloyd’s List Intelligence calling the Houthi attacks a “double whammy” on oil shipments, on top of the disruption in Hormuz. Brent crude jumped above $100 a barrel Thursday, according to AP and The Hindu, reaching its highest level since May.
Trump threatens Iran and the Houthis
President Donald Trump responded by threatening “major military punishment” if Houthi attacks continue, saying the U.S. would hold Iran responsible because the Houthis are an Iranian proxy. CBS News also reported that Trump said frozen Iranian money controlled by the U.S. should be used to pay for damage to ships and cargo.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi pushed back Friday, warning that Tehran would hold accountable any country assisting U.S. attacks against Iran. Astro Awani reported that Araghchi also criticized Trump’s frozen-assets proposal, saying that once governments normalize confiscation, “no one’s assets are safe.”
That exchange adds another layer to the shipping war. The U.S. is trying to use military strikes, a blockade, and frozen assets as pressure. Iran is warning that foreign partners and regional bases could be treated as part of the battlefield. The Houthis are pushing pressure into the Red Sea. And the oil market is already pricing in the possibility that two major chokepoints stay dangerous at the same time.
The 13th straight night of U.S. strikes is not just a number. It signals that the crisis has settled into an attritional pattern: repeated U.S. attacks, Iranian retaliation claims, shipping disruptions, and widening regional risk while diplomacy struggles to regain control of the timeline.