[Anchor]

As the United States intensifies its economic pressure, military clashes between the two nations are also escalating. The U.S. has conducted night airstrikes against Iran for three consecutive days, and Iran has responded in kind by attacking neighboring countries and merchant vessels.

Reporter Yu Deok-gi has the story.

[Reporter]

A vessel approaches a port facility and explodes on impact.

The U.S. Central Command stated that the U.S. military deployed its unmanned maritime drone, the Corsair, in combat for the first time to strike Iranian naval facilities in Bandar Abbas.

The U.S. military also carried out night airstrikes for three consecutive days against coastal defense systems, missile bases, and drone facilities in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran.

The U.S. military explained that the purpose of the airstrikes was to weaken the Iranian military's ability to attack civilian merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

These strikes were carried out after President Trump warned of high-intensity attacks against Iran.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President (U.S. radio 'The Hugh Hewitt Show'): Tonight, we are going to push them (Iran) very hard. And tomorrow, we will push them hard again, and they will not be able to do anything.]

Iran retaliated by attacking merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz once again.

On July 14 (local time), two oil tankers registered in the United Arab Emirates were struck by Iranian missiles in a shipping lane south of the Strait of Hormuz, causing fires on the ships and resulting in one Indian crew member dead and eight others injured.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations also received reports that two other oil tankers were struck in the waters off Oman.

Iran claimed that the damaged vessels were struck because they attempted to pass through unauthorized routes due to U.S. instigation.

[Ebrahim Zolfaghari / Spokesperson for the Iranian Central Military Headquarters: We will not allow the U.S. to interfere in the management of the Strait of Hormuz under any circumstances, and we will not allow it in the future either.]

Iran also continued retaliatory airstrikes targeting U.S. military bases in countries including Bahrain and Jordan.

As the power struggle over control of the Strait of Hormuz escalates into a direct confrontation, concerns are growing that peace negotiations may collapse and full-scale war could resume.

(Video Editing: Jeong Seong-hun, Design: Park Tae-young)