Iran Intensifies Attacks Two Weeks After Resuming Hostilities Against US
Yemeni rebels announce blockade in the Red Sea. The conflict threatens the routes of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, increasing pressure on markets.
Iran claimed on Tuesday to have destroyed Amazon's main data center in Bahrain with cruise missiles.
What you need to know
- Intensified attacks: Iran launched a massive wave of missiles and drones against targets in the Gulf.
- Threat to oil: Houthi rebels seek to block Saudi Arabian ports in the Red Sea.
- Washington's stance: Donald Trump confirmed that the US military campaign will continue.
Two weeks after the resumption of hostilities with the United States, Iran intensified its attacks in the Middle East on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, in a total war, according to Tehran, that threatens to spread to the Red Sea.
If the Islamic Republic already controls the strategic Strait of Hormuz, its allies in Yemen, the Houthi rebels, said they want to block navigation to and from Saudi ports in the Red Sea.
President Donald Trump declared on Tuesday that the United States is "not finished at all" with its campaign against Iran, after the tenth consecutive night of bombings.
"If we left now, it would take Iran 20, 25 years to rebuild," he told reporters at the White House.
During the war in Gaza, the Houthi rebels, who control large areas of Yemen, already severely disrupted global maritime traffic with drone and missile launches against ships passing through that area.
Impact on Gulf infrastructure
- Electrical damage: Iranian attacks damaged desalination plants and power plants in Kuwait.
- Defense impacts: The Revolutionary Guards claim to have destroyed radar systems in Bahrain.
- Urban rationing: Kuwaiti citizens had to reduce air conditioning use due to the emergency.
On Monday, they announced a "maritime blockade against the criminal Saudi enemy", an ally of the United States.
It is unclear how the Yemeni rebels can implement this blockade against one of the world's top oil producers, which has its ports on the Red Sea to bypass the Iranian blockade of Hormuz.
Trump also threatened the Houthis on Tuesday and said that if they advance the blockade, he will take care of them.
"They already know, we've done it before with the Houthis, and we haven't heard from them for a long time since we took the measures we took at that time," he said.
Experts also warn of possible disruption to navigation in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, on Yemen's southern coast, which provides access to the Red Sea and is a passageway to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.
After the announcement, oil prices on Monday reached their highest level in a month and, although they fell slightly on Tuesday, Brent crude remains above $90.
"Psychological pressure"
At the other end of the Arabian Peninsula, tensions over control of Hormuz led to the resumption on July 7 of hostilities between Iran and the United States.
The bombings reached unprecedented levels since the first ceasefire agreed in April and reinforced in mid-June by a draft agreement that was supposed to lead to the end of the war.
As it did at the start of the Israeli-US bombings on February 28, Iran responded with attacks on Washington's allies in the Gulf and the Middle East such as Syria, Jordan, and Iraq.
In the last 24 hours, Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait reported Iranian drone and missile attacks.
"The enemy must prepare for waves of drones and even more decisive and powerful missile attacks," the Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday.
This ideological army of Iran claimed that its forces had destroyed anti-aircraft defense systems and radar installations in Bahrain and Kuwait.
Sea routes under maximum threat
- Strait of Hormuz: Controlled by Iran, key for international oil tanker traffic.
- Bab el-Mandeb Passage: Strategic channel on Yemen's southern coast giving direct access to the Red Sea.
- Arabia's ports: Houthis try to cut the alternative route used to trade crude oil.
In the latter country, authorities asked the population to ration air conditioning use after reporting that Tehran had attacked desalination plants and power plants.
Naser al Dhafiri, a Kuwaiti official in his 40s, says the attacks and fear of power cuts in this sweltering country generate "immense psychological pressure" on the population.
"What **Kuwait is experiencing today is something we did not experience even during the Iraqi invasion (in 1991) in terms of psychological pressure and not knowing where things are going," he says.
On the other side, Iran is immersed in a total war, declared its president, Masud Pezeshkian.
"We continue to struggle to cover our basic needs and now, on top of that, we have to deal with the destruction caused by the war," said Shahin, a 34-year-old embroiderer in Iranshahr, central Iran.
Pakistan calls for restraint from all parties
For the moment, no concrete diplomatic progress is in sight, despite the visit to Pakistan, a mediator in the conflict, of Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni.
During the meeting, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif "urged all parties to act with restraint and refrain from measures that could further destabilize the region."
For now, US attacks have left at least 50 dead and more than 500 wounded on the Iranian side since the resumption of fighting, according to the latest official balance published on Friday.
On the US side, three soldiers died in Jordan and Iraq in recent days.
