Three nights of U.S. strikes, two UAE-flagged tankers hit, an Indian crew member dead — and Trump saying we had a deal two days ago. If you're just joining, here's where we were before this round: Hormuz had already turned from a regional military fight into a global shipping and oil problem. Renewed U.S.–Iran hostilities had pushed crude sharply higher. Earlier attacks near the lanes showed how fragile the truce was. And Washington and Tehran were still bargaining over open sea lanes, civilian-vessel protections, and oil exports. This is Iran War Daily. A brand-new weapon in the water, a dead sailor with a nationality, and a president bombing and dealmaking in the same breath. Buckle up. We'll keep tracking Hormuz-to-Red Sea maritime escalation — follow the show so the next update finds you. AP News, with Jon Gambrell; Josh Boak; Konstantin Toropin; Will Weissert:
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. launched strikes on Iran early Tuesday morning, hours after President Donald Trump said Washington is “reinstating” a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump separately suggested the United States will charge other ships for safe passage, upending hundreds of years of American policy supporting freedom of navigation across the globe.
Let's stay with what's on the record from the AP. The U.S. struck Iran early Tuesday, and Trump said hours earlier that Washington is — his word — 'reinstating' a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. A blockade. And then he floats charging other ships for safe passage through Hormuz. That's the United States putting a toll booth on a fifth of the world's oil supply. And Tehran's response, per AP, didn't stay inside the strait — strikes on Bahrain, on Jordan, and on two UAE-associated tankers. One mariner killed, eight wounded. So the Hormuz story we've been following all week just moved from a cracking ceasefire to live fire and tanker hits. Both sides are fighting for the strait, and a crew member is dead. I'd separate the Bahrain and Jordan strikes from the tanker hit — different targets, different implications. The tanker fatality is the confirmed human cost here. Here's Nick Edser at BBC News:
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has hit two UAE tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, as the US carries out a third night of strikes in a row on Iran The UAE called the attack "brazen", adding that an Indian crew member was killed and eight others were injured - BBC Verify tracks the tankers' recent movements
Two UAE-flagged tankers hit in the strait, and an Indian crew member is dead. Abu Dhabi's calling it 'brazen' — which is diplomatic for 'you just killed someone on our ship.' Let's keep the sourcing straight: the IRGC claims the tanker strikes and says it also hit U.S. facilities in Jordan and Bahrain. The UAE government is the one confirming one killed, eight injured. Two different actors, two different pieces. And Brent's up nearly two percent to $84.87 on the news — that's the market folding a dead sailor and UAE-flagged tankers into your fuel bill before lunch. The U.S. framing is narrower — CENTCOM says its strikes were aimed at degrading Iran's ability to hit commercial shipping. Third night running. We don't know yet if that's actually worked. Degrading Iran's ability to hit shipping — said the morning after Iran hit shipping. Sequencing's a little off there. Cami Mondeaux, writing in Deseret News:
President Donald Trump formally notified members of Congress that the United States has resumed military action in Iran, reigniting a debate on whether his actions are legal because he has not yet sought congressional approval. Trump sent a letter to members of Congress on July 10 informing them that “military action commenced” in the area, a White House official confirmed to the Deseret News.
So the letter went out July 10th — 'military action commenced' — and that starts a clock. War Powers gives him a window, but the issue the Deseret piece is chewing on is whether he needs Congress to sign off to keep going. Let's be exact on the mechanics. Trump notified Congress on July 10, per the Deseret News; the notification itself doesn't concede he needs approval — his letter frames it as a report, not a request. Right, and that's the whole game. He files the paperwork so it looks legal, then argues he had the authority all along. Meanwhile we're on night three of strikes and tankers are burning in the strait. I'd keep two things separate here: the notification is a legal-track document dated the 10th, and the tanker hits we covered earlier are battlefield facts. The White House hasn't reconciled them on paper — the letter says 'commenced,' as if this were one clean operation. Here's Quwa Team at Quwa:
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on 13 July that three Saronic Corsair unmanned surface vessels (USV) struck a submarine and ship maintenance facility at the Bandar Abbas Naval Base a day earlier. CENTCOM said it was the first American combat use of sea drones.
CENTCOM's own words: first American combat use of sea drones. Three Saronic Corsair unmanned surface vessels close in on a raised dock holding a submarine and detonate. A new category of weapon just entered this war. And the sourcing is tight — CENTCOM's unclassified release, video included, for the July 12 strike announced on the 13th. Bandar Abbas Naval Base, submarine and ship maintenance facility. We have the platform, the target, and the date. Here's what I want to know — if you take out submarine maintenance at the base guarding the strait's eastern approach, what does that do to Iran's ability to threaten tankers from below the surface? CENTCOM says it degrades the shipping threat. Maybe. Show us the capability evidence, not just the press-release line. And the sea drones were one part of a wider wave — CENTCOM says dozens of targets across southern Iran, air defense, coastal radar, missile and drone assets, Qeshm Island in there too. The Corsairs are the headline, but they rode in with fighters and one-way attack drones. Milestone in naval warfare, they're calling it. First-ever combat use. Somewhere a Pentagon procurement office is thrilled — the rest of us just watched the cost of transiting Hormuz get a whole new variable. From Jay Hilotin at Gulf News:
President Donald Trump said late on Monday he still believes a negotiated agreement with Iran is possible, even as the United States launched a fresh wave of military strikes against Iranian targets and tightened pressure on Tehran by reinstating a blockade on Iranian ports.
Late Monday, Oval Office: 'Yeah, I think a deal is possible. Sure, I do.' Same night we're on the third round of strikes and reinstating a blockade on Iranian ports. Which sentence am I supposed to price? Let's date it precisely, because he did — 'we had a deal two days ago.' That puts the collapse window around July 12, right inside the third night of strikes. That's a tighter timestamp than any mediator has put on record. And notice who's confirming the channel got that close — not Oman, not Qatar. One of the principals is on the record saying they had it and Tehran walked. First real corroboration that the talks were further along than anybody at the podium admitted. He also told Fox negotiators believed they'd reached a long-term peace. So we're supposed to hold all of this together: the ceasefire is over, the White House doesn't want to call it a return to war, and a deal was supposedly 48 hours from signing. Those don't reconcile — and neither the White House nor CENTCOM has tried to. 'They broke it probably ten times and they killed a lot of people.' Fine — but he's saying that while the war powers notification just went to Congress. You don't wave a 60-day clock at the Hill and pine for a signing ceremony in the same breath. If you’ve got feedback for Iran War Daily, a story we should be tracking, or a correction, send us a note anytime: iranwardaily at lantern podcasts dot com. We read everything you send.
We’ll be watching whether Congress moves before the 60-day War Powers clock runs out — the one triggered by President Trump’s July 10 notification.
You’ll find links to every story we covered today in the show notes, so if you want a closer read on any of it, that’s the place to start.
That’s Iran War Daily for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.