Iran strikes Gulf allies as U.S.-Iran escalation intensifies over Strait of Hormuz

In the ancient contest over who commands the sea lanes that carry the world's energy, Iran and the United States have again exchanged blows — drones against airstrikes, retaliation against retaliation — while the Strait of Hormuz, that narrow passage on which so much of modern civilization depends, grows quieter with each passing ship. The immediate human cost is borne by those least responsible: four civilians killed at a wedding in a small Iranian coastal town, two Filipino sailors lost aboard a burning tanker, and thousands of seafarers still at work in waters that grow more dangerous by th