Hormuz fighting intensifies as U.S. attacks Iran and Iran strikes tankers - UPI.com

Hormuz fighting intensifies as U.S. attacks Iran and Iran strikes tankers

Hundreds of thousands of mourners gathered for the funeral procession of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a mass funeral march near Azadi Square in Tehran on July 6, 2026.

July 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. military attacked Iran for a third consecutive night and Iran struck commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and targeted U.S. assets in the region on Monday, as fighting over the vital energy route intensified.

U.S. Central Command said in a late Monday statement that it had completed a five-hour bombardment of Iran, striking targets in Bushehr, Chabahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa and Bandar Abbas to "further degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping."

U.S. Central Command said, in announcing the strikes hours earlier, that the attack was at Trump's direction. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-aligned Fars News Agency reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, Chabahar and Konarak. Flight-tracking information showed at least a dozen U.S. military aircraft circling over the Middle East, including surveillance and intelligence aircraft and refueling tankers, CNN reported.

The attack came after Iranian missiles hit two United Arab Emirates tankers in the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz, within Omani territorial waters, killing one crew member, injuring eight others and causing fires and further damage, the UAE's Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The ministry identified the dead victim as an Indian national. Of those injured, six were Indian and two were Ukrainian, it said. The ships were identified as the Mombasa and the Bahia.

The IRGC said in a statement late Monday that, in retaliation, it attacked the U.S. military's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, setting its fuel-storage tanks "ablaze" and destroying a Patriot radar, the fleet's air-control radar and a C-RAM early-warning radar system.

"The retaliatory operation is continuing," it said.

Bahrain's Ministry of Interior said late Monday that alarms had been activated and that residents were urged to "remain calm and head to the nearest safe place."

The IRGC had earlier said that, in response to the U.S. attack, it had targeted and destroyed American assets at the Juffair base in Bahrain.

The United States has canceled all appointments in the coming days at the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in the UAE.

CENTCOM also said Monday that the new naval blockade on Iranian ships will resume at 4 p.m. EDT Tuesday. In announcing the blockade's return, President Donald Trump also said the United States could charge a fee on each ship passing through the strait equal to 20% of its cargo value in exchange for U.S. protection.

The Trump administration is seeking to restore freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz as to prewar levels, while Iran is seeking to maintain control of the shipping lanes.

The two sides had mostly been observing a fragile cease-fire to implement an agreement made last month that could pave the way for an end to the war until fighting resumed last week over the strait.