US vows to punish Iran after Houthi tanker attacks
Published On 24 Jul, 2026
The latest volley comes the night after Houthis in Yemen opened a new front in the war with attacks on oil tankers in Red Sea shipping lanes — though US Central Command (CENTCOM) did not specifically mention the rebel blockade in announcing the latest offensive.
Iranian state media reported that US missiles hit the southwestern city of Ahvaz, and explosions were heard in nearby Omidiyeh, as well as the port city of Bandar Abbas and the island of Qeshm on the Strait of Hormuz.
CENTCOM said the attacks “aimed to hold Iran accountable and diminish threats from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to commercial shipping”.
Oil prices soared along with the increased threat to the energy trade.
Trump said the United States would hold Iran responsible for the Houthis’ actions and warned both would soon receive a “major military punishment”.
The international oil benchmark Brent crude surged past $100 a barrel for the first time since May, up seven percent, while world leaders expressed alarm over the Houthi Red Sea attacks.
“The situation is getting out of control. It is teetering on the edge of the unimaginable,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned.
“One crisis feeds another. One escalation triggers the next,” he told a meeting of the UN Security Council.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned “the energy shock could intensify further” and push up inflation, feeding speculation about a September eurozone interest rate hike.
