The military confrontation between the United States and Iran widened this week, spreading beyond Iranian territory to two of the region's most important waterways and drawing in additional actors across the Middle East.

US forces struck deeper inside Iran, hitting bridges and other infrastructure, part of a sustained campaign that followed the collapse of a cease-fire President Trump had announced earlier. Trump has said repeatedly that Iran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, and officials have described his weighing of a larger attack. Republican hawks in Congress have urged him to expand the operation.

The fighting no longer centers only on Iran itself. The Houthis in Yemen claimed a missile attack on Saudi Arabia, and Saudi and Houthi forces traded airstrikes, opening the Red Sea as a second flashpoint alongside the Strait of Hormuz. One account, not widely confirmed, held that Kuwait and Bahrain sent aircraft to strike Iran. Explosions were heard near a US base in Iraq after the Pentagon completed its latest round of strikes.

The economic effects were immediate. Crude oil prices rose sharply as markets weighed the risk to shipping through both the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage through which a large share of the world's oil moves. Iran has blamed the United States for the dispute over Hormuz, and both governments say talks are continuing even as the fighting goes on. The United States and the United Kingdom are planning an international conference on the strait.

In Washington, the House of Representatives voted to limit the president's war powers, a move that would constrain the administration's ability to conduct the campaign without congressional authorization. Polling has found the Iran war to be the least popular US conflict since polling on such questions began.

Diplomatic threads remain in play. There have been reports of progress toward a possible Iran agreement, including an earlier point at which Trump called off planned strikes. The administration has also pursued a nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia, and Trump is scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The path forward is uncertain. The administration is weighing escalation and negotiation at the same time, and some observers have questioned whether the strikes have undercut Trump's diplomatic aims. What is documented is that the conflict has moved from a contained exchange to a wider confrontation touching multiple countries, two strategic waterways, and global energy markets.

References

1. 1.The New York Times — the collapse of the announced cease-fire and renewed fighting
2. 2.The Times of London — unconfirmed report that Kuwait and Bahrain sent aircraft to strike Iran
3. 3.Axios — planned US-UK conference on the Strait of Hormuz; scheduled Trump-Netanyahu meeting
4. 4.The Economist — polling finding the Iran war the least popular US conflict since such polling began
5. 5.CBS News — reported progress toward a possible Iran agreement and Trump calling off earlier planned strikes
6. 6.NPR — administration's pursuit of a nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia
7. 7.Vox — questions about whether the strikes have undercut Trump's diplomatic aims