Air raid sirens have blared over Gulf nations as the United States and Iran have launched expansive attacks against each other again, escalating tensions as their fragile ceasefire has unravelled over the past week.Oil prices have spiked, and markets have plunged after Tehran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, the global energy kill switch and the biggest flashpoint in the ongoing conflict.After US President Donald Trump said the April ceasefire struck by the warring nations was “over”, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said, “Revenge is the will of the nation.”So are the US and Iran back to full-fledged war? A projectile falls at an unknown location during what the US military’s Central Command said on July 11, 2026, were strikes on Iranian military targets [Handout/Screengrab/US Central Command via Reuters]How did the US-Iran ceasefire unravel?On July 6, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) struck three commercial vessels, including a Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker, off Oman.The following day, the US said it carried out retaliatory strikes on Iranian military targets, leading Tehran to respond with missile and drone attacks on military bases across the Gulf where US forces are deployed.On Wednesday, Trump said the ceasefire was over. The IRGC shut down the Strait of Hormuz, saying the US was interfering in the waterway’s management by facilitating alternative transit routes.It triggered tit-for-tat attacks between the US and Iran with Washington carrying out deadly strikes on multiple Iranian cities, most …
