Iran-US war latest: Tehran hikes gasoline prices for heavy users as Strait of Hormuz traffic continues to fall

Neveen and Mohammed had recently married and were hoping to get their life back on track after nearly three years of Israeli attacks. But in the space of just minutes, those hopes were once again shattered, Alex Croft reports.

The military spokesperson for Yemen’s Houthi rebels says the group will announce a broad military operation deep into Saudi territory.

Operations at some energy facilities in Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, were halted this morning following attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis ⁠that wounded more than 70 people, Saudi authorities said.

Fires erupted at the sites and several people were injured as firefighting and other emergency teams rushed to the scenes to contain the blazes and ⁠assess the damage, the Saudi ​energy ministry ⁠said.

“The concerned authorities are dealing with the repercussions of the attacks,” the ministry added.

“The needed measures will ⁠be taken to ensure the safety of the facilities and ​workers ⁠and the continuation of ‌work according to the approved operational plans.”

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said in an earlier statement that at least 73 people ‌were injured in Houthi attacks on the ‌southern cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran.

US Congressman Jason Crow said that the US has been drawn into a predictable Middle East quagmire.

“It was as predictable on day one as it is today,” Crow said in a video posted on X.

“This is the most predictable thing that we could’ve imagined: you get involved in another war in the Middle East, that it would be a quagmire, that our adversaries will try to draw us out.”

Democratic Senator Mark Warner has claimed that the US war on Iran has cost Americans $100bn and was adding another $1m every two minutes.

“It has now been documented that the Iran war of choice that Donald Trump started has cost Americans a hundred billion dollars,” Warner said in a video posted on X.

He said the US was “nowhere” in terms of achieving the goals Trump had laid out for the war as he pointed to record-high fuel prices.

“This is what happens when you start a war of choice with no plan, no strategy, no allies, and no way to get out,” Warner said.

Iranian state media said a ballistic missile with improved capabilities demonstrates Tehran’s shifting stance toward taking preemptive action against threats.

A senior Iranian official earlier said the new missile capability had been “tested” against a US warship over the weekend. But it was not clear whether what was tested was the missile the new report described, the solid-fueled Qassem Basir.

On Saturday, the US said it struck Iranian oil tankers in response to ballistic missiles launched at US warships.

Iran’s messaging in recent days has become more assertive, and yesterday’s report said the Qassem Basir marks “a turning point in Iran’s defense strategy.”

It described the missile as having greater range and accuracy and a half-ton warhead.

A UAE senior official has said that “no single state” should control the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran said it plans to announce a new “exclusion zone” near the waterway aimed at vessels intending to transit.

“Our energy exports will not be held hostage, nor will our trade and economic activity,” Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said at a forum of world leaders in Abu Dhabi.

Gargash said Iran should face consequences for threatening oil tankers and commercial vessels in the strait with mines, drones or missiles.

“Using an international waterway as an instrument of coercion is unacceptable,” he added. The UAE, a close US ally, has repeatedly come under Iranian missile and drone fire throughout the war.

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed at ​the start of this week, after ‌Iran threatened on Monday to retaliate for any new US attacks.

The number of commodity vessels sailing ​through the Strait of Hormuz ​totalled seven yesterday, compared with eight ⁠on the previous day, Kpler data ​showed this morning.

Iran had warned that energy ​infrastructure across the Gulf, including US oil and gas interests, was vulnerable.

Oil prices extended ‌gains today as risks of a prolonged conflict in the Middle East grew after Iran threatened to retaliate against any new U.S. attacks on its assets, heightening worries over supply disruption.

Brent crude ​futures climbed 34 cents, or 0.35 per cent, to $97.34 a barrel. US ​West Texas Intermediate crude was at $92.63 a barrel, up $1.15, or 1.26 per cent.