The United States reinstated its naval blockade of Iran on July 14, tightening the economic noose weeks after the June Memorandum of Understanding collapsed and setting up another round of direct exchanges between the two countries.
The escalation turned lethal on July 17, when an Iranian strike killed three American troops in Jordan; the most serious single-day US casualty event since the war's opening phase. The United Arab Emirates reported stopping an Iranian drone over its waters the same week, and trading of attacks continued through July 23.
The Human and Market Costs
The Congressional Budget Office estimated in September that US military operations had cost $38 billion as of August 1, a figure that already exceeds the annual budget of several cabinet agencies. Oil markets, meanwhile, have spent the summer pricing every tanker incident and base attack as a potential trigger for wider war.
Congress Watches and Waits
A joint resolution authorizing the use of force against Iran, introduced in the House in May, has not passed. The war continues under existing authorities as it approaches the statutory limits of the War Powers Resolution, a constitutional friction that grows sharper with every month.
