Published Tue, Jul 21, 2026 · 09:36 AM
US FORCES struck Iranian targets after President Donald Trump vowed Teheran “will pay” for killing three US soldiers, even as mediators proposed a new truce with the Middle East war widening further.
US Central Command said the military began a new wave of strikes around 4 pm ET on Monday (Jul 20), the 10th straight day of attacks. “Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!” Trump wrote in a social media post.
Earlier, Iran had said mediators were in touch with proposals on how to ease hostilities after more than a week of worsening clashes.
Tensions remain high and the conflict looked set to expand further after Teheran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen threatened to blockade Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea.
Esmail Baghaei, the Islamic Republic’s foreign ministry spokesman, said “ideas from some mediators have been conveyed” to Teheran, without giving further details. Tehran said its interior minister, Eskandar Momeni, is traveling to Pakistan on Monday.
Qatar and Pakistan, the main intermediaries in the conflict, see a return to US-Iran positions before Jul 9 as a first step, according to the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency.
Fighting over control of the Strait of Hormuz began that day, effectively unravelling an interim peace deal signed last month.
Asked about a Reuters report that mediators proposed a 10-day ceasefire, a US official said Trump is currently focused on punishing Iran for attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The US strikes will continue until the president chooses a different course of action, the official said, but diplomatic efforts to end the war were continuing.
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Oil swung between gains and losses throughout the session on Monday on the prospects for further escalation and detente in the conflict. Global benchmark Brent ended the session about 1.3 per cent higher at US$89.22 a barrel, the highest closing price since Jun 11.
Yahya Saree, a spokesman for the Houthis in Yemen, said on Monday that they would impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia in retaliation for what they say is the kingdom’s siege on the Yemeni capital, Sana’a.
That announcement adds to a slew of risks facing global oil supplies, as it puts at risk the flow of millions of barrels that the kingdom exports via the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia said it would take all necessary measures to protect its ships.
US petrol prices have climbed back over the US$4-a-gallon mark, potentially hurting Trump and his Republican party ahead of midterm elections in November.
The US earlier conducted a ninth straight day of airstrikes on Iran. Teheran is refusing to relent on attacking shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, insisting it has a right to manage traffic through the critical waterway. Iran also continued to attack US bases across Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Iraq.
The tit-for-tat attacks are getting deadlier.
The US military announced the death of a service member in northern Iraq on Saturday during a “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone. That was a day after two others were killed in an Iranian attack on Jordan, with another service member still missing.
Iran says US strikes have struck bridges, killed more than 50 people and wounded over 500 since the most recent flare-up between the two sides began just under two weeks ago.
Trump warned Iran last week he’d escalate airstrikes and widen the scope of targets until it backed down.
The latest US attacks were “in honour” of the personnel killed, Trump told reporters. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday the president will attend a dignified transfer ceremony for “our fallen heroes” on Tuesday evening.
A breakthrough is unlikely to happen until the US and Iran can reach an agreement over shipping in the Hormuz strait, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies flowed before the conflict.
Shipping volumes have slumped and the number of vessels going through Hormuz is now roughly the same level as during the height of the conflict in March and early April.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said his country wouldn’t abandon diplomacy but also won’t be forced back to the negotiating table while under military attack.
“Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf had global consequences and we became a global player,” he said in an interview published on his Telegram channel, underscoring how Tehran sees control of the strait as a source of leverage over the US and as vital to its security.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran continues to send signals it wants to negotiate. He also reiterated the American view that the Iranian government is split between those that want a peace agreement and hardliners who want to fight more.
Kuwait continues to experience some of the worst attacks from Iran. Over the weekend, Kuwait’s main state energy company said an unspecified site sustained “significant material losses,” causing its evacuation and a number of injuries, while two power and desalination plants have been hit in recent days.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to convene defense chiefs on Monday evening, a member of his security cabinet, Eli Cohen, said in a radio interview about the Iran tensions.
“If Iran makes the mistake of attacking the State of Israel, we’ll respond with a might surpassing that of the last campaign,” Cohen told Army Radio on Monday.
The US is sending more warplanes to the Middle East, the New York Times reported, citing anonymous US officials. The planes include F-35 and F-16 fighter jets, as well as aerial-refueling aircraft.
“The Americans keep bringing new military equipment into the region while claiming they want to stop the war,” Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has participated in talks with the US, posted on X. “We have become experts at recognising these American tactics and have prepared accordingly.” BLOOMBERG
