Escalada en Ormuz: EE. UU. e Irán reactivan el fuego cruzado en el Golfo

WashingtonIn the Strait of Hormuz, the only thing that seems to have resumed, for now, is the crossfire between the US military and Iranian forces. This Monday, the United States admitted an Iranian cruise missile attack against one of its ships in the waters of the Gulf. Previously, the Army's Central Command (CENTCOM) had denied the facts in a post on X, where it stated that Iranian state media were lying. In parallel, Admiral Bradley Cooper, the head of CENTCOM, has assured that the navy has sunk six small Iranian ships. Oman has reported an Iranian attack in a residential area, and the United Arab Emirates say they have intercepted three missiles fired from Iran. The region is heating up again after days of stalemate, and, once again, the ceasefire is trembling.

In an interview with Fox, Donald Trump has added fuel to the fire and said that Iran will be "obliterated from the face of the earth" if it attacks US ships participating in its plan to escort commercial vessels through the strait. “We have more weapons and ammunition, and of a much higher quality than we had before,” Trump said. And he added: “We have the best equipment. We have material all over the world. We have bases all over the world; all are equipped. We can use all this material, and we will, if necessary.” This is not the first time the president has made these types of threats, although it is the first time they have been accompanied by actual military actions.

The escalation reactivates after the president announced the operation "Project Freedom" on Sunday, in which the US military would escort merchant ships through the strait. Iran had already warned that it would sink any ship that tried to pass through the strait without first asking for permission from the Revolutionary Guard.

Washington's move, which was again an attempt to force the Iranians to reopen passage while the diplomatic route is at a standstill, seems to have only served to stir up the waters of the conflict. The information between the two sides is once again, mostly, contradictory and difficult to verify. CENTCOM also assured this morning that it had successfully escorted two ships; nevertheless, Admiral Cooper said that the navy is not "escorting" commercial ships through the strait.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has issued a statement warning that it reserves "the full right to respond to these provocations without prior provocation" by Iran. The UAE warns that Tehran's gesture constitutes a "grave escalation" in the conflict. The Emirates have been one of the Gulf countries that have suffered the most attacks by Iran in the last month. It is also no coincidence: the UAE normalized relations with Israel in 2020 through the Abraham Accords, promoted by Trump during his first term. According to sources familiar with the matter, Tel Aviv has sent an air defense system to reinforce Emirati defenses.