Iran war news: Tehran vows response as US tightens port blockade

Muhammad Asghar | GlobalBeat

79 US warships now surround Iran’s coastline.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the naval siege “intolerable” and warned of immediate retaliation if commercial traffic remains choked off.

The standoff marks the sharpest escalation since President Trump returned to office. Oil prices jumped 8% within hours. Insurance firms canceled coverage for any tanker bound for Iranian terminals.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi summoned European envoys in Tehran at dawn. He told reporters the fleet deployment “strangles civilian livelihoods” and violates maritime law.

Trump posted on Truth Social at 6:14 a.m. Washington time: “All options are open.” The message ended with a 14-second video of aircraft carriers launching F-35 sorties.

Pentagon officials said the build-up began 3 nights ago when the destroyer USS Mason intercepted a vessel allegedly carrying centrifuge parts. The ship’s Panamanian registry turned out to be fake. The crew of 14 Pakistanis remain in US custody at an undisclosed Gulf base.

Commercial satellite images show at least 2 Ohio-class submarines surfaced inside the Strait of Hormuz. TankerTrackers, a private monitor, counted zero crude shipments leaving Iranian ports since Tuesday.

Iran responded by firing a missile into orbit at 9:27 a.m. local time. State television hailed the launch as a civilian satellite mission; US Space Command called it “a thinly veiled ICBM test.”

France, Germany, and Britain issued a joint statement urging restraint. They stopped short of condemning either side. China blamed “unilateral muscle-flexing” and reiterated calls for renewed nuclear talks.

Global benchmark Brent crude surged to $98.40 a barrel, its highest since October 2023. The spike erased this year’s stock-market gains in Tokyo and Mumbai. Gold hit a record $2,780 per ounce.

Shipping giant Maersk diverted 15 scheduled stops from UAE ports to Salalah in Oman. The rerouting adds 9 days to Europe-Asia voyages. Retail analysts warn of fresh inflation just as Western consumers enter the holiday season.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short a security cabinet meeting to hold phone talks with Trump. His office released a single-sentence readout: “The two leaders agreed on the urgency of preventing Iran from nuclear breakout.”

Inside Iran, long lines formed outside gas stations in Esfahan and Shiraz despite official assurances of ample stock. The rial sank to 708,000 against the dollar on unofficial exchanges, a record low.

Revolutionary Guard commander Hossein Salami toured the port of Bandar Abbas on Thursday night. State footage showed him boarding a fast-attack craft painted with the slogan “Martyrs live forever.”

Background

Naval friction has simmered since the US exited the 2015 nuclear deal. The Trump administration reimposed banking curbs in 2018 and later seized Iranian fuel cargoes at sea. Britain’s Royal Marines held an Iranian tanker near Gibraltar that same summer; Iran retaliated by impounding the UK-flagged Stena Impero for 10 weeks.

The current build-up echoes Operation Praying Mantis in 1988, when US forces sank half of Iran’s operational fleet after a mine damaged the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts. The clash pushed Tehran to the negotiating table within months, yet analysts note Iran’s missile arsenal has since expanded twenty-fold.

What’s Next

The UN Security Council meets Friday morning at Washington’s request. Diplomats expect a US draft resolution authorizing naval inspections of suspect vessels, though Russia and China are likely to block or water down the text. In Tehran, lawmakers plan an emergency closed session with military chiefs to discuss “active deterrence measures,” a phrase that in the past has preceded missile strikes on Gulf Arab oil sites.

Energy traders now price in a 35% probability of limited military engagement before year-end. The Pentagon has ordered 1,200 additional Marines to reinforce Bahrain’s base, while Iran’s navy declared a 10-day exercise starting Saturday that will close sections of the Caspian Sea to commercial traffic for the first time.