Erbil, Iraq (AFP) — — The US military said on Friday that it fired on another commercial ship that was trying to break through its blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran targeted US strongholds around the Persian Gulf.
The United States and Iran showed no sign of abating in their conflict after the thirteenth straight night of strikes. With fighting heating up again and diplomacy uncertain, both sides have taken steps that signal the possibility of escalation. American embassies in the Middle East began warning Americans in the region that options for leaving may become more limited, while the Iranian Revolutionary Guard advised residents of neighboring countries to stay away from bases that house American forces.
Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, told The Associated Press that U.S. forces disabled the M/T Lavine in the Gulf of Oman after the ship tried to bypass the blockade at least four times. Hawkins confirmed that the ship’s crew had been warned and had not complied with orders. Then the army opened fire on the engine room. It is the second merchant ship to be disabled since the military reimposed the blockade. US Central Command said it had also redirected 12 ships.
Three boys play in the shallow waters of the Strait of Hormuz, while a plume of smoke rises from an explosion in the background, off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, July 13, 2026.
Razia Budat/ISNA via AFP
Earlier on Friday, US President Donald Trump described negotiations with Iran as “the most dangerous we have ever seen,” even as the United States launched daily strikes.
“We’re ready and ready to go, but we’re talking to them,” Trump told reporters, adding that he was “in no rush” to end the war.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi vowed that Iran “will not bow to American bullying,” pointed to ongoing discussions with two world powers often at odds with the Americans — China and Russia — and warned in an interview with the semi-official Tasnim news agency that the Islamic Republic “is not intimidated by threats and will not yield to pressure.”
At the heart of the fighting is the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial passage for global energy supplies that has been effectively shut down by Iranian attacks, sending fuel prices soaring and causing widespread economic disruption.
US strike sites are being targeted across Iran and countries in the region
In the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, which hosts a group of American military advisers, security officials said Friday that US-led forces shot down five drones loaded with explosives. Repeated explosions echoed in Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region, and columns of black smoke were seen near its airport, where American forces are stationed. US military officials did not respond to a request for comment on the apparent attacks.
Meanwhile, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said it targeted the US base in Al-Udayri, Kuwait, setting fires and destroying three ammunition and storage depots. It also claimed to have struck a control tower for the US Navy’s 5th Fleet based in Bahrain, which it said was damaged.
US Central Command did not respond to inquiries about these allegations.
Both Bahrain and Jordan said they intercepted air attacks launched by Iran on Friday.
While the barrage of attacks was targeting US and allied bases, the US struck a Revolutionary Guard naval base in northern Iran, semi-official news outlets Fars and ISNA reported. Explosions caused by US bombing have also been reported on Iran’s Qeshm Island, a base for naval assets including drone boats that Iran can use to attack ships in the strait, as well as in Isfahan Province, home to a major Iranian air base and one of Iran’s nuclear sites.
Additional strikes reportedly hit Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan Province and southern Fars Province.
Central Command said the latest bombing was intended to “further reduce Iran’s ability to threaten civilian sailors and commercial ships crossing territorial waters” as the Americans seek to reopen the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes in peacetime.
The Houthi attacks give Iran more leverage in potential negotiations
The official Iranian news agency reported that a diplomatic delegation from the Sultanate of Oman, which participated in mediation efforts between the United States and Iran, was in Tehran on Friday to discuss managing shipping traffic in the strait.
Iran’s ability to effectively close the strait — and cause economic chaos beyond the Middle East — gives it enormous leverage in negotiations. Its Houthi allies increased that leverage when they targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday, raising the risks of shipping along another vital route for Middle Eastern oil.
The attacks came in response to the Houthis’ threat to close the Bab al-Mandab Strait to shipping linked to Saudi Arabia. The strait, located at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, and about 12% of global trade passes through it, including a quarter of global container traffic.
The corridor became more important for Saudi Arabia, which had to divert millions of barrels of oil daily to bypass the strait.
Trump threatened to impose “major military sanctions” on the Houthis if their attacks on ships continued.
The price of Brent crude, the international standard, fell slightly on Friday to about $96, but is still significantly higher than before the war began, when it was trading at about $72 a barrel. AAA said U.S. motorists saw gas prices rise to an average of $4.11 per gallon.
There are no signs of a diplomatic breakthrough as casualties in the war mount
Beyond the economic impact, the human toll was also clear, with the Iranian Ministry of Health reporting that 3,434 people had been killed since the war began.
In other developments, the International Maritime Organization said that at least 6,000 sailors were stranded on board about 400 ships around the Strait of Hormuz. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for “urgent action” to help them. His office said the sailors were vulnerable to combat, and some had been abandoned by their ship owners, leaving them “self-reliant without food, water, fuel, medical care, electricity or the means to communicate with their families.”
There have been no general signs of progress in any negotiating efforts.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who played an important role in previous negotiations, met his Iranian counterpart Araqchi on Friday. But before the meeting, Araqchi appeared to brush off any attempts at mediation, saying he did not believe the conflict needed more mediators, insisting instead that the United States must change its position.
The United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and presented shifting goals for the war, including overthrowing Tehran’s government and eliminating its nuclear program.
Israel has expressed its readiness to return to the conflict in recent days. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he will travel to the United States next week and meet with Trump.
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Frankel reported from Jerusalem and Trobin from Washington. Associated Press writers Bassem Marwa in Beirut, Erin Cunningham in Jerusalem, Matthew Lee, Darlene Superville and Colleen Binkley in Washington, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Jami Keaten in Geneva and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed.
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