Along the ancient fault lines of the Persian Gulf, where empires have long contested the flow of oil and influence, Iran and the United States have entered a new cycle of reciprocal strikes — each action framed by its author as a response, never an initiation. Missiles fell on a Jordanian base, ships were targeted in the Strait of Hormuz, and an unmanned submersible was claimed as a trophy of war, while the world's energy markets absorbed the tremors of a confrontation neither side has yet chosen to name as such. The deeper question is not who struck last, but whether either power possesses th
Iran claims submarine capture, strikes US base in Jordan amid escalating regional tensions
At least two US military personnel killed in previous Iranian strike in July; no casualties reported in current Jordan base attack.