Iran refuses to loosen hold on Hormuz; U.S. gasoline prices rise
WASHINGTON — The United States and Iran are back to bombing every day in a bid to control the Strait of Hormuz, and neither is backing down, according to an Associated Press report. The renewed daily strikes have collapsed an interim ceasefire deal and left additional American troops dead, AP reported.
While the Trump administration says it remains open to diplomacy, Iran so far has refused to loosen its grip over the oil shipping corridor in the Persian Gulf. The standoff is raising questions about the next phase of the conflict as the attacks also send U.S. gasoline prices higher, creating new political risks for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections, AP reported.
Trump warned in recent remarks that “every time Iran kills an American Soldier” going forward, “they will pay for that killing many times over.” Even with glimmers of hope for talks, the sides could be headed back to all-out war, the report said.
Mona Yacoubian, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the renewed escalations reflect “a fundamental misreading of the Iranian psyche and a lack of learning” from prior fighting. She told AP that the dynamic is driven by a calculus on each side that it can “double down on military escalation as a way of breaking the impasse and getting the other side to relent.” But she cautioned that “the more escalatory it becomes, the harder it will be to seize any potential opening back to diplomacy.”