Iran Accuses US of War Crimes After Qeshm Island Explosions as Tanker Strikes and Missile Barrages Escalate

Since U.S. forces broke a monthlong pause by striking Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island last Sunday, the conflict has escalated fast, culminating Saturday in unexplained explosions off Qeshm Island that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is calling a U.S. war crime.

How the week unfolded

CENTCOM said the Sunday strike on Larak Island targeted Iranian forces preparing to launch sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz, calling it "limited, precise action" against an "imminent threat," according to CNN. Iran's IRNA news agency, citing Qeshm County Governor Hossein Amirtaymouri, said the strike killed at least two people.

Iran responded Monday by firing missiles at U.S. targets in Jordan and the UAE, according to CNN, sending Brent crude up nearly 3% and pulling U.S. stock indexes lower. President Trump posted on Truth Social that Iran was a "failed nation" with leadership "in total disarray."

Tuesday brought a much bigger round. CENTCOM said it struck Iranian air defense sites, radar systems and maritime assets, and a U.S. official told Fox News the military disabled 10 Iranian oil tankers over the preceding week, including five in a single day: the Charminar, Kaviz, Horizon 1, Riesco, and the empty supertanker Derya. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Colombia the U.S. would keep sinking tankers as long as Iran keeps targeting American ships: "For every time they do that or try to do that, they're going to lose tankers."

That same day, according to Ahmad Nafisi, Hormozgan Province's deputy governor speaking to Iranian state television, a U.S. strike hit a home in Kuhestak where a wedding was underway, killing five people including a child and wounding at least 68 others, as reported by NPR via the Associated Press.

Iran fired back with ballistic missiles at Jordan. Jordan's Armed Forces said air defenses intercepted 10 of 13 incoming missiles, with three landing in unpopulated areas, according to Breitbart. A separate Jordanian statement cited by Fox News put a different tally at 20 missiles fired, with 18 intercepted and two falling in unpopulated areas. No injuries were reported in either account. The IRGC claimed its Aerospace Force killed "numerous" American personnel and destroyed facilities and helicopters at Camp Titin near Aqaba, but U.S. and Jordanian officials did not corroborate that, and a U.S. source told Al Jazeera the strike caused no injuries or major damage.

It was during this exchange that President Trump told Fox News' Trey Yingst that Iran could be "totally wiped out as a country" if it kept attacking U.S. forces. "If it goes a third time, they're going to be totally wiped out as a country," he said.

Oil prices keep climbing

Brent crude has risen roughly 25% since early August as the conflict has dragged on, according to Fox News citing Reuters. Prices rose for a fourth straight session into Wednesday trading in Asia, with Brent up to $99.49 a barrel and WTI at $94.63.

The Qeshm Island explosions

On Saturday, Iran's IRNA news agency reported hearing "two explosions" near Qeshm Island coming from the direction of the sea, according to NDTV. Local authorities did not confirm any damage or casualties, and the origin of the blasts remains unclear, according to Crypto Briefing.

Pezeshkian nonetheless accused the United States of committing war crimes over the incident. Neither CENTCOM nor any other U.S. official has issued a public statement addressing what happened off Qeshm.

The competing arguments

Washington's position, as CENTCOM has stated repeatedly, is that its strikes target IRGC minelaying operations and military infrastructure threatening commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and that the U.S. is defending the free flow of global commerce. Tehran's position, voiced by Pezeshkian, is that the U.S. is targeting civilian and nuclear infrastructure and committing war crimes, a claim that finds some support in the confirmed wedding-strike deaths reported by an on-record Iranian provincial official, even as the Qeshm explosions themselves remain unattributed to either side.

A widening front

The Iranian-backed Houthi movement in Yemen said it struck a Saudi military base at Sharurah with drones and missiles, targeting what spokesman Yahya Saree called "weapons depots and command and control centers," CBS News reported. CBS noted the exact date of the operation was not specified, though clashes between Houthi forces and Saudi-backed Yemeni government troops have intensified this week.

No formal ceasefire talks have been announced. Trump has said he is in no hurry to negotiate, writing that he'd rather keep "almost total control of the Hormuz Strait" while Iran's economy "totally collapses." Whether Tehran responds to the Qeshm explosions with another round of missile strikes, or whether U.S. officials ever confirm or deny involvement, remains an open question heading into the weekend.