IRBIL, Iraq (AP) \u2014 The U.S. military said Friday that it fired on another merchant vessel that was trying to breach its blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran targeted American strongholds around the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n
The U.S. and Iran showed no sign of backing away from their conflict<\/a> after a 13th straight night of strikes<\/a>. With fighting flaring again<\/a> and diplomacy uncertain, both sides made moves suggesting an escalation was possible. U.S. embassies in the Middle East began alerting Americans in the region that options to leave could become more limited, while Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard<\/a> advised residents of neighboring countries to stay away from bases with U.S. troops.<\/p>\n American forces disabled the M\/T Lavine in the Gulf of Oman after the ship attempted to run the blockade at least four times, Capt. Tim Hawkins, U.S. Central Command spokesman, told The Associated Press. Hawkins stressed that the ship\u2019s crew was warned and didn\u2019t comply with commands. The military then fired into its engine room. It\u2019s the second commercial ship to be disabled since the military reimposed its blockade. U.S. Central Command said it also has redirected 12 vessels.<\/p>\n Earlier on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> described negotiations with Iran as \u201cby far the most serious that we\u2019ve seen,\u201d even as the U.S. has launched daily strikes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re locked and loaded and ready to go, but we\u2019re talking to them,\u201d Trump told reporters, adding that he\u2019s \u201cnot in a hurry\u201d to end the war.<\/p>\n Vowing that Iran \u201cwill not bow to U.S.\u201d bullying, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi<\/a> noted ongoing discussions with two global powers often at odds with Americans \u2014 China and Russia \u2014 and warned in an interview with the semiofficial news outlet Tasnim that the Islamic Republic is \u201cneither intimidated by threats nor will we yield to pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n At the center of the fight is the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, a crucial passage for world energy supplies that has been effectively shut down by Iranian attacks, sending fuel prices soaring and causing widespread economic turmoil.<\/p>\n US strikes sites across Iran and countries in the region are targeted<\/p>\n In the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, which is home to a contingent of American military advisers, security officials said Friday that U.S.-led forces had shot down five explosive-laden drones. Repeated blasts echoed in Irbil, the capital of Iraq\u2019s semiautonomous Kurdish region, and plumes of black smoke were seen near its airport, where U.S. forces are based. U.S. military officials did not respond to a request for comment on the apparent attacks.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted the U.S. base in Udairi, Kuwait, setting ablaze and destroying three ammunition and storage sheds. It also claimed to have struck a watchtower for the U.S. Navy\u2019s Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, which it said was damaged.<\/p>\n U.S. Central Command did not respond to inquiries about the claims.<\/p>\n Both Bahrain and Jordan said they had intercepted aerial attacks by Iran on Friday.<\/p>\n As a barrage of assaults was aimed at bases of the United States and its allies, the U.S. hit a Revolutionary Guard naval base in northern Iran, according to the semiofficial news outlets Fars and ISNA. Blasts from U.S. bombardment were also reported on Iran\u2019s Qeshm Island, a base for naval assets including drone boats that Iran can use to attack vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as in Isfahan province, home to a major Iranian air base and one of Iran\u2019s nuclear sites.<\/p>\n Additional strikes reportedly hit Iran\u2019s southwest Khuzestan province and southern Fars province.<\/p>\n Central Command said the latest barrage was designed to \u201cfurther degrade Iran\u2019s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters\u201d as the Americans push to regain control over the strait, through which one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil and gas transited in peacetime.<\/p>\n Houthis open a new front in the war<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s ability to effectively close the strait \u2014 and cause economic chaos far beyond the Middle East \u2014 gives it tremendous leverage in negotiations. Its Houthi allies<\/a> increased that leverage when they targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday \u2014 increasing the risks of shipping through another vital route for<\/a> Middle Eastern oil.<\/p>\n The attacks made good on the Houthis\u2019 threat<\/a> to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait<\/a> to Saudi-linked shipping. The strait at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, and around 12% of the world\u2019s trade, including one-fourth of global container traffic, passes through there.<\/p>\n The passage has become more crucial for Saudi Arabia, which has been forced to divert millions of barrels of oil a day to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n