US hits Iranian bridges as Tehran strikes Kuwait plant
Why it matters: Brent crude rose 3% as fighting spread to shipping lanes near the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.
The United States struck bridges and other infrastructure in Iran on July 17, while Tehran retaliated by hitting a power and desalination plant in Kuwait, widening a conflict that had already wrecked a preliminary ceasefire. Iranian media reported explosions in Sirik, Ahvaz and Yazd after the latest US attacks, and state media said at least five bridges in southern Iran were hit. At sea, US Marines boarded a tanker near the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that the Revolutionary Guards navy targeted a Thai-flagged ship trying to pass through the waterway. Armed men also seized another vessel off Yemen, deepening fears for Gulf and Red Sea energy flows.