The US has begun bombing Revolutionary Guard targets around the Strait of Hormuz, pushing oil prices higher — bad for drivers, inflation, and stocks, and another step deeper into a widening war.

• Explosions hit the Bandar Abbas port area and nearby islands, home to Iran's oil storage, customs offices, and military sites.
• The strikes answer Iran's drone and missile attack on bases in Jordan, which itself answered US attacks on Iranian mine-laying launchers.
• Two supertankers carrying Saudi oil were struck in the strait the night before, a failure of the secret US Navy escort runs that quietly move ships through at night with transponders off.
• Oil jumped again, and betting markets now put the odds of a US-Iran nuclear deal this decade at barely one in four.
• Washington is scrambling for other oil sources, with Chevron expanding in Venezuela, while Iran's leaders meet Chinese and Russian counterparts for the first time since the war began.

Outlook: Iran has promised to hit back harder, so expect more strikes, higher oil, and pressure on stocks — with dip-buying still reasonable but riskier than usual given high interest rates and a shaky AI trade.