ISLAMABAD -- A 10th straight day of attacks between the United States and Iran across the Middle East on Tuesday overshadowed diplomatic efforts in Pakistan to salvage an interim ceasefire deal that has collapsed.
Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict seeking to revamp diplomacy. But it was unclear what new arrangement might be reached to end the war, which lately has become a battle for control over the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway vital to world energy supplies.
Speaking from the Oval Office, U.S. President Donald Trump gave a dim view on possible talks, saying the U.S. had “no interest in meeting.” He signalled that U.S. forces could soon target an area of Iran close to one of its main sites for enriching uranium.
With negotiations and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz largely stalled, both sides have sought to gain leverage by targeting civilian infrastructure in the region relied on by millions of people.
A barrage of U.S. strikes hasn’t loosened Iran’s grip on the strait, through which about one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and natural gas was shipped before the war.
The U.S. continued its airstrikes on the Islamic Republic Tuesday, and Iran attacked a tanker in the strait, forcing the crew to abandon the ship. Iran also kept up attacks against U.S. allies in the region. Sirens in Bahrain and Kuwait warned residents of incoming projectiles.
The escalation pushed energy prices higher. The international benchmark for crude oil traded Tuesday above US$91 a barrel and regular gasoline in the U.S. climbed to an average of US$4 a gallon.
With U.S. midterm elections approaching in the fall, polls have pointed to the unpopularity of the war among Americans, who have felt the pain of pricier gas and seen new casualties in a conflict that weeks ago seemed to be winding down.
Iran-backed rebels in Yemen open a new front in the Red Sea
In the Red Sea, Iran-backed Yemen’s Houthi rebels have opened a new front against Saudi Arabia by declaring a naval blockade of the kingdom, threatening the flow of global oil supplies and trade. With the Strait of Hormuz blocked up, Saudi Arabia has been relying on a pipeline to the Red Sea to get millions of barrels of oil out to market.
A news agency in Yemen that is run by the Houthis, SABA, said Tuesday that six ships in the Red Sea were forced to reroute after they received warnings from the rebel group. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the claim.
Three Houthi officials said the group warned international shipping companies on Monday to avoid transiting through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they weren’t authorized to speak to journalists.
Trump says U.S. has `no interest’ in Iran talks
Momeni, Iran’s interior minister, met Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, according to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations. Momeni later met Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
In a statement, Sharif expressed deep concern over the recent U.S.-Iran escalation, and urged all sides to exercise restraint and avoid actions that could further destabilize the region.
Pakistan’s political leadership and Munir, who serves as both the chief of army staff and defence forces, played a key role in brokering last month’s interim agreement between the U.S. and Iran. Islamabad has been working to persuade both sides to return to the negotiating table.
Trump told reporters that Iranian officials “want to desperately meet. And until they’re ready to meet in a meaningful way, we have no interest in meeting.” He said the U.S. would soon target the area near Pickaxe Mountain -- a fortified underground site near one of Iran’s primary nuclear enrichment facilities.
Iran’s military leaders said any attack on nuclear or “other sensitive facilities” would be considered a major escalation, according to a statement reported by Iranian state media.
“We declare that if the invading and terrorist military of that country enters such a phase, we will regard it as an expansion of the war across the region, and all interests of the United States, its allies, and its supporters will become targets of powerful attacks by the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said the statement from the armed forces’ Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.
A deep level of mistrust persists on both sides. Iran came under a surprise attack in June 2025 and again in February while it was engaging in nuclear negotiations with the U.S. The interim deal unravelled when Iran resumed attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which was supposed to be reopened under the agreement.
U.S. strikes come as ships are attacked
The U.S. military’s Central Command said Tuesday it targeted “Iranian military command centres, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and air defence systems.” It released more footage of bombings that targeted sites in Iran.
“American forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression toward civilian mariners seeking to freely and openly transit the strait,” the command said.
Iranian state media reported that explosions were heard in Fars, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, and Sistan and Baluchistan provinces.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said a tanker came under attack early Tuesday in the strait off Oman, forcing the crew to abandon the vessel.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for the attack, as well as two other attacks on ships Monday in the waterway.
The route close to Oman’s shores has been the one the U.S. military has encouraged ships to travel to avoid Iran’s control.
To enforce the blockade in the strait, as of Tuesday U.S. forces have redirected eight commercial vessels and disabled one, CENTCOM said on X.
Iran strikes U.S. allies around the region
Tehran also hit U.S.-allied countries throughout the Mideast on Tuesday.
Jordan’s military said Iran targeted it with five drones and three missiles, all of which were shot down. Bahrain sounded its missile alert sirens on Tuesday afternoon as another Iranian barrage targeted the island kingdom, which is home to the U.S. navy’s 5th Fleet.In Iraq, flights were temporarily suspended at Irbil International Airport after a wave of attacks targeted the capital of the semiautonomous northern Kurdish region, according to Iraq’s state-run news agency. No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but in the past both Iran and Iran-backed Iraqi militias have launched attacks in the Kurdish region, where U.S. troops are present.
The Kuwaiti government said Iran struck desalination and power plants for a fourth straight day on Monday night. Authorities said the attacks sparked fires and caused damage.
Some 90 per cent of Kuwait’s drinking water comes from desalination, making the attacks a matter of life and death for the tiny nation.
U.S. strikes have been hitting electrical equipment in Iran as well, and Iranian officials also have said Americans targeted water facilities.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the attacks on civilian infrastructure “unacceptable” and a violation of international law.
___
By Jon Gambrell and Munir Ahmed
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
