Published: 11:56 PM, 14 July 2026
US and Iran intensify conflict
Explosions in an Iranian port city have been reported by Iranian state media, after Iran targeted two UAE tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and US regional allies, as the conflict between the US and Iran escalates following a night of strikes by the US military.
Ceasefire in tatters: US Central Command says it will restart its naval blockade starting at 4 p.m. ET today, and President Donald Trump says the US will impose a 20% fee on cargo moving through the strait. An Iranian security source also says Tehran will deliver a "devastating response" if the US attacks suspected underground nuclear site Pickaxe Mountain.
Oil price rise: Global oil prices are up sharply following the collapse of the ceasefire and the threat to resume the blockade. The benchmark Brent crude rose by its highest level since June 12.
TRUMP REVERSES COURSE ON 20% FEE IN THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ:
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday reversed course on imposing a 20% reimbursement fee on cargo moving through the Strait of Hormuz, saying that that will be replaced by Gulf States investing in the United States.
Trump had announced on Monday that the fee would cover US-provided security in the critical oil thoroughfare.
"Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States," Trump wrote on Truth Social moments before he was expected to meet with Iraq's prime minister at the White House.
Trump administration officials had previously questioned the feasibility and legality of charging fees in international waterways.
"It's an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway. That's existing international law," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month.
Vice President JD Vance had also emphasized that the administration's stance was that "international waterways should be free of tolls."
And Trump himself had previously said the US wanted the strait to be "free."
"We want it open. We want it free. We don't want tolls. It's international. It's an international waterway," Trump said in May.
WHY SAUDI'S STRIKE ON A YEMEN AIRPORT SHOWS THE US-IRAN WAR IS ESCALATING:
Saudi Arabia struck a key airport in Sanaa in Yemen yesterday to prevent an approaching plane carrying a high-profile Houthi delegation from landing there, regional sources said.
The development marks a potentially dangerous escalation as Saudi Arabia and the Houthis have largely observed an informal truce in recent years, illustrating how the ongoing Iran-US conflict has the potential to spiral in unpredictable ways. Following the strike, the Houthis launched a missile toward the south of Saudi Arabia, which was intercepted, according to a Saudi coalition spokesperson.
The Houthi delegation was returning home after attending the funeral of the late Ayatollah Khamenei in Iran last week. The Houthis control northern Yemen and are among Iran's closest allies in the region. Questions have been raised over what was on board of the aircraft - the internationally recognised government of Yemen accused the Houthis of using the flight to smuggle weapons from Iran.
Nawaf Obaid, senior fellow in the department of war studies at Kings College London, who is well-connected in the region, said the Houthis and Iran ignored repeated warnings from the Saudi-led coalition that that the flight would not be allowed to proceed without official authorization. Instead of diverting to Oman, the flight defied the Saudi air blocakde and continued towards Yemen, prompting the Saudi air force the strike the airport at Sanaa to prevent it landing, the source said.
Obaid added that the flight was instead allowed to land at an airport in Hodeidah, a Houthi-controlled city about 90 miles east of Sanaa - apparently in order to avoid it running out of fuel and crashing.
THIS WILL BE A DIFFERENT EVENT, MUCH MORE POWERFUL, NETANYAHU WARNS IRAN IF ISRAEL ATTACKED:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran on Tuesday, "this will be a different event" if Israel comes under attack as the US-Iran ceasefire breaks down.
Speaking at the Negev Conference in Dimona, Netanyahu said, "Do not count on it being quiet if you attack us. Do not count on a rerun. Because it will not be a rerun, and that was already powerful enough. This will be a different event, much more powerful." Dimona, the site of the conference, is near Israel's main nuclear research center.
Iran last attacked Israel on June 8 after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) targeted Hezbollah in Beirut. Israel was prepared for a much larger wave of strikes on Iran before President Donald Trump downplayed Iran's ballistic missile attacks on Israel and imposed a ceasefire.
IRAN SAYS HUNDREDS OF NON-IRANIAN SHIPS HAVE COORDINATED WITH ITS NEW STRAIT AUTHORITY:
The new Iranian body tasked with overseeing passage through the Strait of Hormuz said today that hundreds of non-Iranian vessels have sought its authorization to use the waterway in recent weeks.
Most of these vessels "received transit authorization and insurance coverage," the authority said, without providing an exact figure. CNN cannot independently verify Iran's claim.
Earlier this year, Iran launched the PGSA in an attempt to exert its control over the movement of ships through the strait, and formalize its claim of sovereignty over the waterway through which most of the region's oil is exported.
Before Iran declared the strait "closed" over the weekend, Tehran insisted the waterway was open but only for ships that coordinated passage with Iranian authorities via the PGSA. The Iranian authority blamed the "movements" of US military forces in the region for the latest closure.
The United States previously warned ship operators not to cooperate with the PGSA, with President Donald Trump insisting yesterday that the crucial waterway remains open "with or without Iran."
HOW BOTH IRAN AND OMAN CLAIM RIGHTS TO THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ:
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced over the weekend that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, after firing a warning shot at a vessel it said was attempting to use an unauthorized route to cross the waterway.
Hours later the Joint Maritime Information Center, overseen by the US Navy, said that the "southern route" through the Strait of Hormuz, which hugs the Omani coastline, remained open for two-way traffic.
Washington and Tehran have since continued to make conflicting statements about the status of the Strait of Hormuz.
The strait is the main route for shipping crude from oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to the rest of the world. Both Tehran and Muscat have Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) in the waterway.
>>Agency
