The Cycle of Attacks and Conflict!
WANA (Sep 03) – Over the past two days, military confrontation between Iran and the United States has resumed following the U.S. attack on Lark Island.
In last night’s U.S. attack on southern Iran, another tragedy unfolded in Koohestak, turning a gathering of mourning and celebration into a scene of grief. Several people, including two children, were killed, while dozens more were wounded.
This confrontation, unfolding as part of an unfinished war, has gradually become almost routine and, above all, reflects a diplomatic deadlock.
The latest U.S. attacks are the most intense of their kind in roughly a month. However, so far, they do not appear to indicate that the United States has decided to launch a war on the scale of the 40-day conflict—unless developments on the ground gradually force such a course of action.
US Strike on Wedding in Sirik Kills 5, Injures More Than 50
WANA (Sep 02) – The U.S. airstrike on a residential home in Koohestak, Sirik County, where a wedding ceremony was underway, has once again put civilian casualties at the center of scrutiny over Washington’s military operations against Iran. According to local officials and the Iranian Red Crescent, the strike left at least five people […]
That said, these attacks themselves constitute a form of limited warfare. For now, the United States appears to prefer launching such strikes periodically.
In this context, the attack on the missile-launching platform in Lark was merely a pretext for initiating the latest round of strikes. The objective is to weaken Iran’s military capabilities for monitoring and controlling maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
The fact that targets in Iran’s southern coastal areas that were hit in previous attacks have been struck again in the same locations supports this assessment.
In essence, these attacks represent a form of attritional warfare against Iran. For now, however, the broader objective appears to be laying the groundwork for the continuation and intensification of economic attrition.
People walk near a billboard depicting U.S. President Donald Trump on a building in Tehran, Iran, September 2, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
The United States appears to believe that the more it can weaken Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz and increase the potential flow of oil through it, the more it can mitigate the consequences of the strait remaining insecure and closed for the U.S. and global economies. This, in turn, could create the conditions necessary to sustain the economic blockade.
Six months have now passed since the war and aggression against Iran began, and according to Tehran, the Strait of Hormuz has remained closed for roughly five months.
This leverage, contrary to expectations, has so far failed to force the United States into the kind of settlement Iran seeks. Although the international and U.S. economies have been affected, to varying degrees, by developments in the Strait of Hormuz over these months, the economic shock apparently has not yet reached a level that would compel Washington to reach an agreement or make concessions.
US Strike on Wedding in Sirik Kills 5, Injures More Than 50 /WANA News Agency
One reason is that oil prices have not yet experienced a significant surge. At the same time, the market appears to be trying to adapt to the new circumstances by finding alternative routes and mechanisms.
But this situation has drawn Iran into an unprecedented war of attrition targeting its security and social stability, while there is currently no clear diplomatic path toward ending the conflict.
Therefore, if the United States and its allies believe that the security repercussions of developments in the Strait of Hormuz remain manageable and that the global energy market will not suffer a major shock, they are likely to continue this war of attrition against Iran—particularly on the economic front—in various forms, along with the ongoing cycle of attacks and confrontation.
US Strike on Wedding in Sirik Kills 5, Injures More Than 50 /WANA News Agency
