US Sends Dozens More Refueling Planes To Israel Amid Widening Iran War, Oil Climbs

Update(12:25ET): Oil prices are climbing on fresh reports Friday that President Trump is ready to continue escalating and expanding strikes on the Islamic Republic, after a Situation Room briefing this week where the Commander-in-Chief was presented with various options. It bears repeating that the White House in the opening days of Operation Epic Fury promised the American public a fast and hasty, limited military engagement – but this is where we are four months later…

“The Trump administration notified Israel it is sending dozens more refueling planes to the country ahead of a potential expansion of military operations against Iran, three U.S. and Israeli officials said,” reports Axios. “After he was presented with several new military plans in a Situation Room meeting Tuesday, President Trump is considering a massive offensive in Iran that would be wider in scope than the current strikes around the Strait of Hormuz.” This is but the latest signal that the ceasefire and negotiations are fully dead, and the potential for runaway escalation is bigger than ever:

• OIL RISES TO SESSION HIGHS, BRENT TRADES ABOVE $87/BBL
• US YIELDS RISE TO DAY’S HIGH ON REPORTS OF US-IRAN ESCALATION
• US TO SEND DOZENS MORE REFUELING PLANES: AXIOS

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Iran has on Friday warned of a “more crushing” retaliation following the conclusion of last night’s sixth consecutive day of US attacks, targeting military targets and logistics infrastructure, but also civilian sites connected to the power grid. By all accounts this current wave goes beyond the prior strikes in size and scope compared to the past several days.

Iranian state media has reported that eight people were killed from the overnight attacks, and that several bridges had been attacked overnight.

The country is feeling the strain under what is now nearly a week of constant US heavy attacks. This is being seen in that Iran’s energy ministry has urgently called on citizens to reduce electricity use after the power grid came under strain following US strikes on energy infrastructure in the south.

In a statement on Friday, the ministry said those areas in the south “are currently experiencing extreme heat and attacks on power infrastructure.” But as Al Jazeera notes, “The ministry however did not elaborate on whether it was power plants, transmission lines or other equipment that had been attacked.” According to more details:

Iran’s Energy Ministry urged citizens to reduce electricity consumption to help stabilize power supply in the country’s southern provinces following US strikes on energy facilities, citing extreme heat and infrastructure damage, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported Friday.

The ministry asked subscribers to turn off air conditioners for one hour during peak consumption periods to help ensure a more stable electricity supply to the affected provinces, ISNA said.

Report: Hormuz Strait transit falls to three week low–

Hormuz traffic reaches three week low

MarineTraffic data indicate confirmed crossings through the monitored Strait of Hormuz zone fell to eight on 16 July, down from 15 a day earlier and marking a three week low. Seven of the eight transits followed the Iranian route, with no… pic.twitter.com/mEXVxsx40d

— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) July 17, 2026

Friday was the first time that Iran’s government acknowledged American “attacks on power infrastructure” during the campaign, which comes after Trump’s prior warning to go after key civilian infrastructure.

And on the bridges: “Iranian media reported that five bridges were hit in the latest round of US strikes, as well as the train station in coastal Bandar Khamir and Iranshahr Airport ​in southeastern Iran,” Reuters reports. An airport has also reportedly been attacked.

Iran has warned of an “infrastructure for infrastructure” tit-for-tat:

Kuwait says that one of the country’s power and water desalinations plans suffered “severe damage” after an Iranian attack.

— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) July 17, 2026

There are signs of renewed attacks on rail as well, per NBC:

A railway junction station just west of Bandar Abbas was also hit, the state-owned IRIB news agency said. The highway and railway bridge strikes appeared aimed at cutting off Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main port, from roads leading toward Tehran, the capital.

While other routes still are open, the U.S. strikes could expand further, potentially disrupting both the movement of military materiel and goods needed for Iran’s 90 million people.

Regional Arab states which host American bases say they were busy overnight intercepting missiles and drones sent from Iran, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and with reports of projectiles inbound even in Syria.

The IRGC announced Friday that it carried out an attack on the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, asserting that it destroyed a long-range radar system and several US aerial refueling aircraft.

Iran’s Chabahar port control tower COLLAPSES after more than a week of US strikes — Pete Hegseth boasts of destruction in X photo

Iranian FM Araghchi calls the attacks one of many US ‘war crimes’ committed over the past week pic.twitter.com/lDBz6ufJ5j

— RT (@RT_com) July 17, 2026

Its Aerospace Force described that carried out a “surprise and powerful” attack on Al Udeid Air Base, claiming to have taken out a long-range radar system along with the refueling aircraft parked there.

Per IRIB news agency, the elite Iranian force stated, “The American enemy and the hosts of its bases in the region should know that crossing red lines and attacking people and civilian infrastructure will have a very severe and miserable price. If the enemy continues this trend, more crushing responses are on the way; responses that will remain in the history of battles.”

The IRGC further warned that American forces will “pay a heavy price” for what it called crossing “red lines” and targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. Tehran has not backed off its assertion of ‘control’ over the Strait of Hormuz – also calling this its red line.

The day or evening prior saw US Marines having conducted “a verification boarding” of a tanker in the Gulf of Oman – which the Pentagon characterized as part of operations enforcing the new naval blockade of Iranian ports.