JOEL ROSE, HOST:
The confrontation between the United States and Iran has flared up again this weekend with tit-for-tat strikes that are becoming a pattern in this conflict. The U.S. says it struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iran launched missiles at two American warships, putting fresh pressure on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and on global oil prices. The latest exchange comes after a weekslong lull in U.S.-Iran military action. NPR's international correspondent Carrie Kahn is in the region. So tell us what happened today.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: The U.S. military says Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or the IRGC, launched ballistic missiles toward two U.S. naval vessels. It was an aircraft carrier and a guided missile destroyer. CENTCOM says both ships were able to evade those attacks, and in retaliation, the U.S. struck three Iranian oil tankers, destroying all of them.
One was near Iran's key Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf. That's the heart of Iran's oil export system. Another of the three was actually in the Gulf of Oman. CENTCOM says it was hit several times, and its crew was forced to abandon ship.
In its statement, CENTCOM said, the tanker is part of a, quote, "multibillion-dollar shadow network that's used to fund Iran's Revolutionary Guard. CENTCOM's commander said, quote, "if you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost taking out three of yours."
ROSE: It's now been more than six months since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, but it had been relatively quiet for many weeks now. Why have the strikes picked up this weekend?
KAHN: The U.S. says it's dealing with attacks and threats to commercial shipping, and it began the resumption of strikes last weekend and into the week hitting several sites in Iran. One of those was a U.S. strike on a wedding celebration that killed at least five people and injured dozens. That's according to Iran. Washington said it is investigating those claims. Iran immediately retaliated, launching drones and missiles at U.S. targets, military bases in the Gulf.
Iran's foreign ministry condemned today's U.S. strikes, calling the actions illegal and a clear threat to international peace and the security of commercial shipping. And on state media today, Iran threatened to increase and expand its strikes on U.S. military vessels if the U.S. kept blocking Iranian ports and targeting its ships.
ROSE: So what does the resumption of strikes and retaliation mean for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz? Who actually controls it right now?
KAHN: Well, Iran says it controls the strait, and it has actually been in negotiations with Oman to determine some new fees and passage restrictions. President Trump has said the U.S. is in control. It has the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and a large presence there attempting to keep commercial traffic moving.
Do remember that before the war began in February, the strait was open to all commercial traffic, without any restrictions and the threats we're seeing now. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center says vessel traffic through the strait now is down again to around 90% from pre-war level while Brent Crude has risen above $90 a barrel again this week.
President Trump characterized the war as, quote, "small potatoes.' He said that this week. And Vice President JD Vance declined to even describe the conflict as a war. But both know that whatever the terminology each side is using, the longer the cycle of this back-and-forth strikes drags on, the greater the disruption to energy markets and the more tangible the economic impact becomes both in the U.S. and, of course, globally.
ROSE: That's NPR's Carrie Kahn in Tel Aviv. Thanks, Carrie.
KAHN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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