The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran stretched into its sixteenth day on Sunday with more U.S. troops and warships headed to the Middle East and President Donald Trump urging other countries to send warships to the region to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the closure of which has sent gas prices soaring.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said there were no guarantees that oil prices will come down in the coming weeks even as he defended the U.S. military operation. “There’s no guarantees in wars at all,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Israel said it launched new strikes on Iran, which retaliated with fresh strikes on Israel and U.S. targets in neighboring countries. And U.S. Central Command said “strikes from U.S. forces continue to be unpredictable, dynamic, and decisive” touting Sunday morning that “U.S. dominance builds over vast swaths of Iran.”
But the cost of the war is mounting. Kevin Hassett, director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that the United States has spent $12 billion “so far” on the war. But he predicted the “global economy is going to have a big positive shock as soon as this is over.”
The Pentagon on Saturday night identified the six U.S. service members killed last week when a refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq. They were: Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Ala.; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, of Covington, Wash.; Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Ky., Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Ind.; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio.
Iran’s effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil and gas chokepoint and shipping route, continues to severely disrupt global markets. Gas prices continue to rise amid the war, averaging roughly $3.67 per gallon, according to motorist group AAA. Last month’s average was $2.93.
At least 1,319 Iranians, including more than 200 children, have been killed since the war began, according to U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. The International Organization for Migration said Sunday that deteriorating conditions in Iranian cities were “driving increasingly complex mobility patterns,” forcing many to leave their homes for safer areas or even neighboring countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Iran, meanwhile, said it was considering a “serious review” of its relations with neighboring Arab Gulf states, according to Reuters. And Iran’s Revolutionary Guard vowed Sunday to hunt down Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “kill him with full force,” according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
Trump has called on several countries that rely on the Strait of Hormuz – including France, Britain, South Korea and China, a U.S. adversary – to send warships in a pressure campaign to restart oil transit in the strait, where Iran has been attacking oil tankers.
In an interview on CNN Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz declined to answer when Naval escorts will be ready to usher international ships through the strait. But he said the president’s request for other countries to send warships means “Iran can’t hold your economies hostage, and we certainly welcome, encourage and even demand their participation to help their own economies.”
Trump said on Truth Social Saturday that “the Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help — A LOT! The U.S. will also coordinate with those Countries so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well.”
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tells MS NOW that the route is only closed to U.S. and Israeli ships, even as the vital waterway remained essentially impassable.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.