As tensions continue to rise in the Middle East, the United States has resumed a naval blockade targeting Iranian ports while the conflict with Iran enters a dangerous new phase. The U.S. military says its expanded naval deployment is aimed at securing key shipping lanes, while Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claims it has launched a seventh wave of retaliatory missile and drone strikes against American military bases across the Gulf. Air raid sirens have sounded in Bahrain, Kuwait has reported interceptions, and fears of a wider regional war continue to grow.