The US is going to use seized Iranian assets for war damages.

The US military announced that it attacked Iran for the 13th consecutive night, and the Iranian government media said that four people were killed and five people were wounded.

US President Donald Trump said he would use US-held Iranian assets to pay for “damages to ships, cargo or anything related thereto”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded to Trump’s “fair and just” threat, calling it an “incendiary example.”

The latest attacks came after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they attacked two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea, and increased threats to international shipping have sent oil prices higher.

Iranian state media reported that explosions hit key military and commercial sites, including the southern port city of Bandar Abbas and the island of Qeshm.

Trump has previously promised “major military sanctions” against the Houthis and Iran’s attacks.

The US military said the attack was aimed at degrading Iran’s ability to threaten civilian vessels in territorial waters.

US Central Command said it targeted “Iranian military command centers, drone storage facilities, communications networks, coastal surveillance sites and maritime capabilities.”

But as the US pushes to regain control of the Strait of Hormuz, there it is. A growing threat New threats to shipwrecks in Red Sea from Iran-backed Houthis.

That helped crude oil prices recover. $100 (£74.96) a barrel – the highest level since May.

Reuters news agency reported that an oil tanker ran aground on Thursday, July 24, citing ship monitoring data, which it said was the lowest level of traffic since May 7.

As tensions in the region continued, Trump said the damage to ships and cargo would be “paid for and controlled by the United States with Iranian money” and that the amount could be “very large.”

Iran’s foreign minister responded to Trump, saying, “People who respect or profit from this kind of money should remember: Once governments formalize expropriation, no one’s property is safe.”

“The ensuing chaos will not be pretty or peaceful,” Aragchi added.

Bahrain’s interior ministry said air sirens had been heard and Iranian state media also sounded the alarm in Jordan.

In June, the United States and Iran agreed to a 14-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end military operations and open the Strait of Hormuz, as well as an agreement to end hostilities within the next 60 days.

But three weeks after it was signed, Trump declared the ceasefire “over” after Iran attacked ships in Hormuz, and the US retaliated.

Point 11 of the memorandum detailed “the readiness of the United States to make full use of frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”