The U.S. launched a fresh wave of airstrikes across Iran on July 16, targeting military sites including Bandar Abbas and areas near Tehran. The strikes follow earlier U.S. attacks on July 15, which prompted Iran to retaliate with drone and missile attacks on U.S. military facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. As both sides continue exchanging strikes, fears are growing of a wider regional war and renewed threats to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The US said its latest wave of strikes was in response to an Iranian attack on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz the previous week.

The strikes were the latest in a cycle of attacks and counter-attacks as Iran seeks to assert control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. However, the barrage marked an…