A Red Sea blockade threatens a new front in U.S.-Iran war

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Democracy Dies in Darkness

After a 10th night of U.S. strikes, Tehran retaliated with fresh attacks in Jordan and Bahrain.

July 21, 2026 at 5:41 a.m. EDTToday at 5:41 a.m. EDT

A Houthi supporter attends a Friday rally against a Saudi-led coalition's restrictions on Houthi-controlled areas, in Sanaa, Yemen. The Houthi rebels announced a blockade on Saudi Arabia’s oil shipments through the Red Sea’s Bab el-Mandeb Strait, closing off one of the Gulf’s few viable alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz for exporting oil. (Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)

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Tehran and Washington are doubling down on their standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, as a Red Sea blockade risks shutting another key shipping route amid an expanding war.

Days of U.S. strikes have not loosened Tehran’s chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for the world’s oil supply, while tit-for-tat strikes have taken the place of a collapsed ceasefire.

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