Iran vows hardline response after U.S.-Israel strikes near Strait of Hormuz
Two weeks into the escalating conflict sparked by U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, Iran’s leadership took a harder line. State television quoted a new supreme leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, delivering a first formal address in which he pledged a “hardline” response to American and Israeli actions. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, warned that Iran will face intensified consequences, saying Washington is destroying the regime “completely” and urging observers to watch what happens next.
In the address, Mojtaba Khamenei framed pressure on the United States and Israel as a tool to force a broader confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which a large portion of the world’s oil passes. He called for using the Hormuz leverage, including oil as a weapon, to continue what he described as an uncompromising standoff against Western adversaries. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps subsequently warned that attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure or ports would provoke further retaliation across the Middle East.
Attacks on tankers and other ships near Hormuz continued to surface. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations, or UKMTO, said two vessels off the northern Iraq coast were struck by unidentified projectiles, causing fires but allowing all crew to evacuate. Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency later cited Iran’s claim that one of the attacked ships was American-owned and suggested the ship did not heed warnings. Iraqi state media reported 38 rescued crew members and one death among the casualties. A container ship near the UAE coast also came under fire, with a fire reported on board but no confirmed casualties.
U.S. and allied reporting has tracked a broader maritime campaign. The New York Times, compiling vessel-tracking data, reported at least 16 ships attacked in the Gulf since the conflict began late last month. The wider incident set has also drawn in regional actors and raised alarms about the safety of commercial shipping through the Gulf and the potential for broader spillover.
On the ground in Israel, Iran launched missiles at targets in the country’s north, drawing Israeli claims that two people were injured in that region. The conflict reached into Turkey, where sirens sounded at the Incirlik air base, a NATO facility that hosts U.S. forces, after a period of recent heightened tensions following Iranian ballistic missile events. Earlier in the week, Turkey said missiles had entered its airspace and were intercepted by NATO defenses.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a rare press conference amid the bombardment, stating that Israel’s overarching aim is to support those within Iran who oppose the regime, while acknowledging that the path to any regime change remains uncertain. He said major Iranian scientific figures linked to the country’s nuclear program had been killed in the strikes, and he warned that more attacks would follow, though he did not fully spell out a change in the broader strategic objective.
President Trump, posting on his Truth Social platform, renewed a warning to Iran, declaring that “we are destroying the terrorist regime completely” across military, economic, and other domains, and urging observers to watch what unfolds. In the U.S. Central Command’s assessment, American and allied forces have targeted roughly 6,000 Iranian objectives since the initial strikes, and sea operations have involved more than 90 vessels—about 30 mine-sweeping ships and 60 naval ships—being damaged or destroyed. The conflict’s widening geographic footprint was underscored by the death of a French service member in Iraq’s Erbil region, the first French casualty linked to the current fighting, with Paris confirming the loss and noting additional injuries.
The latest developments illustrate how the Iran-Israel-U.S. confrontation is multiplying near-term risks for energy markets, global shipping routes, and international security. For U.S. readers, the stakes include potential volatility in crude prices tied to the Strait of Hormuz, the risk of broader regional spillover involving European and allied forces, and the possibility that domestic supply chains could face interruptions if the fighting expands further or disrupts maritime traffic through the Gulf.