By Jared Malsin, Lara Seligman and Costas Paris
The U.S. and Iran are teetering on the brink of a dangerous new phase of the war, as both turn to military force to break a standoff in the Strait of Hormuz that has paralyzed shipping and imposed costs on both sides.
Fighting flared for the first time in about a month Monday, with the U.S. Navy trying to open the waterway and Iran hitting commercial ships to keep it closed.
The U.S. said it used Apache helicopters to sink Iranian speedboats harassing traffic in the strait. Iran hit a critical oil port in the United Arab Emirates and several vessels around the strategic waterway.
The return to a more openly violent chapter will test both sides. Each has reason to try to force an end to the current paralysis in the strait. But they also face substantial risks if the skirmishing escalates out of control -- for Iran, greater damage to its economy and leadership, and for President Trump, deeper involvement in a war that is unpopular at home.
Bryan Clark, a former senior U.S. Navy official now a senior fellow with the Hudson Institute, said the new phase of the conflict is likely to play out at sea in a fight that could resemble the Tanker War that Iran and Iraq fought over control of the waterway in the 1980s.
That sets the stage for what could be a long and slow-burning contest -- less intense than the broad air campaign of the first five weeks, but marked by periodic violence that could escalate if either side miscalculates.
"They're trying to basically pressure the Iranians to capitulate and restore access," Clark said of the U.S. "And since that didn't happen, they're now forced to try to escort ships."
The flare-up on Monday, the worst since President Trump declared a cease-fire in early April, came hours after Trump announced a new initiative to get ships that have been bottled up in the Persian Gulf out through the crucial waterway.
Iran's constriction of the strait and an American blockade of Iranian ports have deprived global markets of millions of barrels of oil, pushing up the price of gasoline and jet fuel and piling up pressure on Iran's economy.
The rise in tensions began after the U.S. dispatched a pair of destroyers through the Strait of Hormuz and helped two U.S.-flagged ships steam out in an effort to break Iran's chokehold on the waterway.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded by launching cruise missiles and drones, and by sending speedboats to attack ships. Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said U.S. warships and aircraft responded by striking the ships' attackers, including sinking half a dozen Iranian fast-attack craft.
Sailors on merchant ships around the strait reported military jets and helicopters buzzing overhead and shared photos and videos of the U.S. forces.
"The president has also said that if the process is interfered with, we will react forcefully," Cooper said of the operation to open the strait. "And over the last 12 hours, Iran has interfered."
Iran fired cruise missiles at U.S. warships, too, Cooper said. Trump told a Fox News reporter that Iran would be "blown off the face of the earth" if it targeted U.S. ships.
Iranian drones and other explosives slammed into a number of ships around the Gulf and hit the crucial U.A.E. oil hub at Fujairah, where the country routes its oil exports around the constriction in the Strait of Hormuz. The hit caused an explosion and a blaze, and rescue teams were checking to see if anyone was injured or missing, an official at the port said.
The U.A.E., which has backed tougher action against Iran, repeatedly sounded alerts Monday for the first time since early April, saying it was targeted by four missiles and a number of drones. Students were told they would go back to online schooling, and a number of flights were canceled amid the threats.
Oman said a residential building housing company workers was hit.
Offshore, merchant sailors saw a successful drone strike on the Marshall Islands-flagged JV Innovation tanker. The captain of the tanker said it was at anchor Monday waiting to cross the strait when it was hit by a drone. Sailors on nearby ships reported seeing the strike and a fire on the deck.
In a recording from the ship's bridge reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, the captain is heard saying his ship was attacked and on fire and asking other nearby ships to keep at a safe distance
Another ship, the HMM Namu, was struck by an explosive late Monday, according to maritime security company Vanguard. The U.A.E. said Monday that two Iranian drones attacked a third tanker, used by the state oil company Adnoc, while it was transiting the strait.
Iranian state media published a map Monday of the Revolutionary Guard's area of control of the strait that encompassed Fujairah at the end of a pipeline that the Gulf country uses to circumvent the blockage in the strait.
Jack Kennedy, head of Middle East and North Africa country risk at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said Iran will continue to use asymmetric tools like drones and fast-attack craft to attack ships or escalate against U.S. forces in the strait.
The Revolutionary Guard, whose navy has choked off traffic in the strait, defied Trump's initiative Monday, saying ships going through without its permission face serious risks.
"There has been no change in the management of the Strait of Hormuz," Sardar Mohebbi, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guard, said according to Tasnim, a news agency affiliated with the paramilitary group. "Maritime movements contrary to the principles announced by the IRGC Navy will face serious risks. Violating vessels will be stopped by force."
Shipowners said they were unwilling to risk a crossing given the threat of attack from Iran and a lack of clarity around how the new American operation to open the waterway would work. The German owner of two ships currently stranded in the Gulf said he would only move them when the war ends and there is a convincing peace deal.
"A few shipping companies may consider the U.S. proposal and take their chances," said Lars Jensen, CEO of Denmark-based Vespucci Maritime. "But for big operators, it's unrealistic, they need security guarantees that simply aren't there."
The developments have renewed uncertainty around the fate of the world's most important energy shipping lane -- export route for about a fifth of the world's oil -- which Iran closed after the U.S. and Israel launched their attack on the country on Feb. 28.
Millions of barrels of oil have been cut off and hundreds of ships are stranded in the Gulf with their crews. The U.S. has responded with a blockade of Iranian ports and by intercepting sanctioned ships in the shadow fleet that is moving Iranian oil.
Oil prices jumped early in the day before paring their gains. The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, was trading at around $111 a barrel.
U.S. warships sailed into the Strait of Hormuz in early April for the first time since the war began. Military analysts had warned that using them to open the strait would be difficult and dangerous, since military personnel would have only seconds to respond to incoming fire from Iranian forces positioned near the narrow passage.
The U.S. last conducted military escorts for ships in the Gulf during the Tanker War. At the time, the Navy had more than 500 active ships compared with a battle force of around 292 ships now, according to the U.S. Naval Institute, a nonprofit.
Trump announced his new effort, called Project Freedom, on social media Sunday. The U.S. has reached out to hundreds of commercial ships in the Gulf and encouraged them to attempt to transit the strait.
Even if some make it through with U.S. help, it would likely be far fewer than the roughly 130 ships a day that transited before the war, and it could take months to clear the hundreds of ships still stuck in the Gulf.
"Today, it was war conditions," said Yoruk Isik, a ship-tracking analyst and the head of maritime consulting firm Bosphorus Observer. "There is no cease-fire."
Write to Jared Malsin at jared.malsin@wsj.com, Lara Seligman at lara.seligman@wsj.com and Costas Paris at costas.paris@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 04, 2026 17:06 ET (21:06 GMT)
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