THE WASHINGTON POST: Iran retaliates after 9th night of US attacks; gas returns to $US4 a gallon

Kuwait and Bahrain said they intercepted Iranian attacks Monday morning, in an expanding cycle of violence that has left at least three US service members dead since the resumption of hostilities a week ago. The attacks came hours after US forces carried out a ninth night of strikes against Iran.

In a statement carried by state media Monday morning, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that it targeted multiple US military facilities at Kuwait’s Ali Al-Salem Air Base. Bahrain’s defence forces said they had intercepted several aerial attacks as well.

The IRGC also reported that two oil tankers had “exploded” and were left disabled after using an unauthorised route through the Strait of Hormuz, the embattled waterway that is one of the world’s most critical chokepoints for oil supplies.

Amid the intensifying attacks, the average price of fuel in the United States hit $US4 ($5.70) a gallon on Monday, the second time it has reached that mark since the war disrupted global oil supplies, according to AAA.

Gas prices first reached the $US4 mark on March 31, a month into the joint US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran.

The price of oil also rose above $US90 a barrel on Monday for the first time since June before easing back to just under $US89, up about 1 percent.

Energy markets have had a turbulent stretch.

Oil prices rose nearly 16 per cent last week alone, their steepest weekly climb since April, while European natural gas prices closed at their highest level since March, according to Deutsche Bank.

With the midterm elections looming in November, President Donald Trump has been searching for a way out of the costly and unpopular war, but the emboldened Iranian regime has shown no willingness to surrender to Mr Trump’s demands including the full reopening of the strait.

Just 29 per cent of American voters say they approve of Mr Trump’s handling of the war, even fewer than the 33 per cent who approve of his handling of the economy, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll. Voters also seem to be struggling to keep up with the war’s seemingly circular developments.

Overall, Mr Trump’s approval rating stands at 37 percent.

The Strait of Hormuz continues to be a major flash point.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said Sunday that a cargo vessel was left ablaze off the coast of Oman after being struck by an unknown projectile near the Strait of Hormuz. In an update Monday it said the crew of the burning tanker had abandoned ship and were recovered by a tug boat.

The mounting toll among US service members is also fuelling fears that the conflict could spiral beyond its current bounds.

At least three have been killed since heavy airstrikes resumed a week ago, following the collapse of a preliminary truce deal, bringing to 17 the total number of American soldiers killed since Trump initiated the war on February 28. Two were killed at a military base in Jordan on Friday and another in Iraq on Saturday. Centcom also said Sunday that another set of unidentified remains had been found at the base in Jordan.

Iranian officials used a news conference in Tehran on Monday to warn Washington against any move on Kharg Island, the hub of Iran’s oil industry roughly 54km off the coast of Bushehr Province. Mr Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of seizing the island, which would require an extremely risky ground operation.

A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, Esmaeil Baqaei, said that messages from Washington had reached Tehran through intermediaries even as the strikes continue.

“We have been informed by mediators,” Mr Baghaei said, according to Agence France Press. “We have received messages, without going into details, but the main point is that the diplomatic apparatus has been active in recent days and ideas have been conveyed to us by certain mediators.”

Mr Baghaei added that Iran would not allow the Strait of Hormuz to be used to threaten the country’s security and that Tehran is “determined to take the necessary measures” to defend its sovereignty.

He blamed Washington for the recent escalation, adding that Iran held “no hostility” toward regional states but expected them to prevent their territory from being used for attacks against it.

“As long as these crimes continue,” he said, “our armed forces will respond to them.”