U.S. and Iran dig in over control of the Strait of Hormuz

By — Ben Finley, Associated Press Ben Finley, Associated Press By — Farnoush Amiri, Associated Press Farnoush Amiri, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-and-iran-dig-in-over-control-of-the-strait-of-hormuz Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter U.S. and Iran dig in over control of the Strait of Hormuz World Jul 21, 2026 1:30 PM EDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and Iran are back to bombing every day in a bid to control the Strait of Hormuz. And neither is backing down, showing the limitations of President Donald Trump's reliance on escalating airstrikes to bend Tehran to his will. While the Trump administration says it is open to diplomacy, Iran so far has refused to loosen its grip over the crucial oil shipping corridor in the Persian Gulf. It is raising questions about the strategy for the next phase of the conflict as intensifying attacks have collapsed an interim ceasefire deal, left additional American troops dead and sent U.S. gasoline prices back up — posing new problems for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections. Even with glimmers of hope for talks, the sides could be headed back to all-out war, with Trump warning that "every time Iran kills an American Soldier" going forward, "they will pay for that killing many times over." The renewed escalations reflect "a fundamental misreading of the Iranian psyche and a lack of learning" from previous fighting, said Mona Yacoubian, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "I think it's driven by a calculus on either side that they can double down on military escalation as a way of breaking the impasse and getting the other side to relent," Yacoubian said. "The danger, of course, is that the more escalatory it becomes, the harder it will be to seize any potential opening back to diplomacy." The Trump administration says the door to diplomacy is open Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. is still open to negotiating, telling reporters Sunday night that Iran continues "to send signals that they want to talk, that they want to negotiate, but their behavior is what we're responding to. And their behavior is they're launching missiles and drones at ships" in the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world's oil normally passes. WATCH: U.S. launches more strikes on Iran after deaths of service members "The United States always remains open to a diplomatic solution, and we've tried multiple times with Iran, and we'll continue to try," he said. "If that door opens, we'll be happy to see it open." Trump is focused on making Iran pay for the recent deaths of U.S. troops, violations of the interim deal reached last month and attacks on ships in the strait, according to a U.S. official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said that military strikes on Iran would continue until Trump decides otherwi