US launches further strikes on Iran; Houthis threaten Saudi shipping blockade – Middle East crisis live

The United States has carried out its tenth round of strikes on Iran, with Iran now declaring it is in what it calls a full-scale war. The Guardian reports that US Central Command targeted Iranian military command centers, air defenses, coastal surveillance and missile and drone launch sites, in a stated effort to blunt Iran's ability to threaten commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The escalation rippled through energy markets, sending Brent crude for September delivery up two point seven two percent to ninety dollars and fifty cents a barrel, its highest level since June, after a vessel caught fire in the strait. Meanwhile, the Houthis, the Yemeni militant group, are threatening to blockade shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea.

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