Two oil tankers caught fire after striking sea mines while trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday.

In its statement, the Guards said the tankers had been compelled to remove their crews and were then placed under the control of US operatives to navigate what it described as an “illegal route” through the strategically vital waterway. The group said its navy had previously warned of the risks of entering the mined passage.

The reported tanker incidents come as Tehran has brushed aside US President Donald Trump’s warnings of an escalation in American military strikes, pressing ahead Wednesday with attacks on Gulf allies.

Bahrain, home to a major US naval base, said it intercepted an Iranian aerial attack in the early hours of Wednesday.

The Bahraini military said its air defense systems had stopped incoming fire from Iran, accusing Tehran in a statement of carrying out “attacks targeting civilians.”

After a respite of more than a month, fighting between the US and Iran has been increasing since the weekend after the American military hit Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran retaliated by firing missiles at American bases in Jordan, which were all intercepted.

The renewed violence threatens to threatens to fully reignite a conflict that is now in its seventh month and has led to a spike in oil prices, roiled the global economy and is posing increasing political problems for Trump’s Republican party ahead of November midterm elections.

Since the fighting resumed, the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, climbed above $95, up more than 30 per cent from the start of the war.

Ahead of the morning attacks on Bahrain, Iran fired missiles at Jordan and drones at Kuwait all of which were intercepted. 

On Monday, the United Arab Emirates said it had intercepted an incoming Iranian drone over its waters as well.

The US Central Command said it had completed the latest barrage against Iranian military targets including air defense sites, radar systems and maritime assets.

One US strike hit a home hosting a wedding, according to Iranian media. At least five people were killed, including a child, and wounding at least 68 others, according to Iranian officials.

Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Wednesday called the US ‘Satan’ after the attack in the country’s south.

‘Minab school: children massacred. Lamerd sports hall: kids slaughtered. Kouhestak wedding: children killed with families. If a power acts like Satan, picks targets like Satan, and kills like Satan, it’s Satan. Shields a junior Satan that does the same? It’s THE Great Satan,’ said Ghalibaf in a post on X.

The US military said it was aware of the report but that it ‘never targets civilians.’

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In a statement, the Iranian army said ‘dozens of the army’s attack drones… have targeted radar systems and the positions of US forces at the Al Dhafra and Al Minhad bases in the United Arab Emirates’.

It said it also targeted ‘radar installations and gathering points’ of US forces at Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa Air Base.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards meanwhile said they targeted US forces in Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

They added on Wednesday that four personnel were killed in a US attack on the western province of Kermanshah.

‘Four fighters of the IRGC Aerospace Force in Kermanshah province were martyred in an attack by the US regime,’ the Guards said in a statement carried by Fars news agency, using their acronym.

During last month’s the lull in fighting, the US ramped up economic pressure on Iran, which is suffering from soaring inflation, negative growth and a collapsing currency, as Washington sought to win concessions to fully open the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping traffic.

About a fifth of the world’s traded oil was shipped through the key waterway before Israel and the US attacked Iran on February 28 and Iran largely shut it down. 

Despite many pronouncements from Washington that the strait is open, only a handful of ships are making the passage each day and Iran has regularly attacked vessels.

In launching its latest attacks, US Central Command said it was responding to Tehran trying to hit commercial ships and American forces in the Middle East.

 Late Tuesday, Trump said he would not force Iran to the bargaining table.

‘I couldn’t care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement. I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Strait of Hormuz, and their economy totally collapsing. 

‘They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?’ Trump wrote on social media.

Earlier, Trump had appeared to pivot toward trying to bend Iran to his will through economic sanctions. 

He warned that if Iran retaliated for the new strikes, ‘they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level.’

In other developments in the region, a car struck a gathering of supporters of Iran’s government and armed forces in the northeastern city of Mashhad overnight, killing four people and injuring more than 10, several Iranian media reported on Wednesday.

A car traveling at high speed first collided with another vehicle, lost control and then veered into the crowd after hitting safety barriers and traffic signs, Noor News reported, citing Mohsen Mousa-Abadi, head of Razavi Khorasan Province’s traffic police. The driver was arrested.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and his wife, Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy, are facing a wave of online mockery after a particularly risqué bedroom revelation made the rounds again.

Sean, 54, and Rachel, also 54, discussed how they “get in the mood” during an earlier episode of their joint podcast, From the Kitchen Table: The Duffys.

The clip recently resurfaced on X, where it quickly went viral, showing Sean reflecting on how a shared love of music can strengthen a couple’s connection.

Rachel then added a more surprising detail, revealing that the couple had put together a special playlist meant to help set the stage for intimacy.

“It bonds [people] when you share musical interests, I think it brings people closer together. We have a…” Sean said, before his thought trailed off.

‘We have a get in the mood playlist,’ his wife then interjected with a laugh. ‘Let’s not lie about that. We have our love playlist.’

The couple – who have welcomed nine children over the years – even shared one artist who had made it onto the playlist: Sade.

‘There’s a little Sade on there, I love Sade,’ Rachel said, while Sean added: ‘I put up with Sade.’ 

It’s unclear when the episode originally aired but the podcast ran from 2021 until 2024.

The clip of them discussing their bedroom antics was shared this week on X by popular account @FactPostNews where it went viral, gaining over 214,000 views – and it left some users very uncomfortable.

‘Why is our transportation secretary telling us this?’ one user asked.

‘Oh God. This is CRINGE as f**k. I feel sorry for your kids – gross,’ replied another.

‘Now they ruined Sade for me,’ joked someone else. 

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‘Nobody is interested in your creepy sex life,’ a different user scathed, while tagging Sean.

‘I would rather not know about [your] f**k music,’ read a fifth post, while a sixth said: ‘This is disgusting, no one needs to know.’

A clip of Sean discussing actress Sydney Sweeney’s breasts with his wife on the podcast also circulated on X this week.

‘I’m gonna give you my take on Sydney Sweeney’s breasts,’ he said in the video.

‘If we’re honest, men appreciate women. And men that appreciate women are not toxic. 

‘God made us a certain way… [he made us] to appreciate and want to mate with a woman.

‘And women are made to want to be with a man. I think Sydney Sweeney is just a reminder that men are still men. And women are still women and that’s okay.’

His comments sparked even more backlash.

‘That’s not appreciation, it’s objectification,’ one person said. 

‘So inappropriate,’ another slammed, while a third stated: ‘That’s creepy and unprofessional to say as a member of this administration.’

‘Sydney Sweeney is less than two years older than Duffy’s daughter. Gross,’ someone else pointed out.

Sean and his wife wed in 1999 after meeting on set of MTV’s Road Rules: All Stars one year prior, and they’ve welcomed nine children together over the years.