US and Iran Trade Fire for a Sixth Straight Day as Hormuz Oil Traffic Collapses

The United States and Iran exchanged strikes for a sixth consecutive day on Thursday, with U.S. forces hitting Iranian command centers, missile sites, and a sanctioned oil tanker attempting to evade the naval blockade near Iran’s main export terminal. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard retaliated by firing on U.S. military bases in Kuwait and Jordan; Jordanian officials said they intercepted eight incoming missiles. President Donald Trump said the intensified bombardment will continue until Tehran stops attacking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and agrees to reopen the waterway [1, 2, 3]. The disruption has throttled shipping traffic through the strait, with only six vessels tracked crossing in a recent 12-hour window compared to 18-22 daily crossings earlier in the month, while West Texas Intermediate crude has climbed more than 11% over three sessions to above $80 a barrel [1]. The renewed hostilities follow the collapse of a June 17 cease-fire; the Senate passed a war powers resolution 50-48 last month, with four Republicans joining nearly all Democrats, though Trump dismissed the measure as “meaningless” and said it undermines his administration’s efforts to secure a nuclear deal [4].

Why It Sucks:

Conservatives

• Reopening a vital chokepoint demands force. With roughly a fifth of the world’s oil flowing through Hormuz and Iran actively attacking tankers, conservatives argue the strikes on command centers and missile sites are the only way to restore safe passage and back Trump’s pledge to keep pressing until Tehran stands down [3].
• Congress is undercutting live negotiations. Speaker Mike Johnson and most Republicans opposed the war powers resolution, arguing it signals division to Iran while U.S. negotiators are trying to close a nuclear deal [4].
• Restraint would invite more attacks on shipping. Conservatives contend that pulling back strikes now, after Iran already broke the June 17 cease-fire, would only convince Tehran that targeting tankers carries no cost [2, 3].

Progressives

• An unauthorized war keeps expanding. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the administration’s claim to unilateral authority to continue strikes has “no foundation in law,” and Senator Adam Schiff filed a new war powers resolution after the cease-fire collapsed [4].
• American troops are absorbing the retaliation. Iran’s response landed on U.S. bases in Kuwait and Jordan, where Jordanian forces had to intercept eight missiles, exposing troops to a fight progressives say Congress never approved [2].
• There’s no defined endpoint. Despite a bipartisan Senate vote against continued hostilities, the White House has kept escalating, which progressives argue locks the U.S. into an open-ended conflict with no exit strategy [4].

Gulf States and Global Oil Markets

• Regional allies are catching the crossfire. Missiles aimed at U.S. bases forced Jordan to intercept incoming fire on its own soil, dragging Gulf partners directly into a fight between Washington and Tehran [2].
• Energy costs are spiking for everyone. WTI crude has jumped more than 11% in three trading sessions to above $80 a barrel, a cost passed on to consumers and economies far from the conflict [1].
• The strait is effectively closing for business. Daily crossings have collapsed from 18-22 vessels to just six, choking a waterway that global shipping and energy markets depend on [1].

Sources & Citations:

[1] Bloomberg: Iran-US Skirmishes Worsen as Strait of Hormuz Shipping Traffic Dwindles
[2] Al Jazeera: US attacks Iran as IRGC claims strikes on US military sites in Gulf
[3] NPR: U.S. fires a new wave of strikes on Iran and hits a tanker trying to skirt its blockade
[4] Time: Republican and Democrat Lawmakers Criticize Trump Over Resumption of Iran War