Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country's elite ideological force, attacked a US military base in Jordan and about 20 ships in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday (9), retaliating for American strikes that destroyed five Iranian tankers near Kharg island the day before. As the war in the Middle East escalated again, oil prices crossed back above US$ 100, according to the magazine Veja.
In a statement carried by IRNA, Iran's state news agency, the Guard said it had hit "maintenance and repair installations, preparation areas and takeoff sites for F-35, F-16 and F-15 fighter jets" and inflicted "serious damage on the malicious enemy". Jordan's army said it intercepted 18 of the 20 missiles launched at its territory; the other two fell in uninhabited areas.
Hours later, a second statement announced strikes on two American ships, eight tankers and ten other vessels trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz, the passage that carries an essential share of the world's oil trade. The force also warned tankers docked at ports in Kuwait and Bahrain, which host American forces, to abandon their ships. UKMTO, a British maritime monitoring agency, confirmed attacks on several merchant vessels in the northern Gulf. The newspaper O Globo read the operation as a signal that Iran is ready to confront the United States and keep control of Hormuz, while Folha de S.Paulo reported that Tehran is signaling its willingness to step up the confrontation as American pressure grows.
For Brazil, the most immediate effect runs through fuel prices. A barrel above US$ 100 pressures the import parity that guides pricing at Petrobras, the state-controlled oil company, which announced a gasoline price increase to distributors this week that, according to Folha, should not reach the pumps. Brazil exports crude oil, which cushions part of the shock to its trade balance, but it imports diesel and feels expensive oil in freight costs and inflation. In the middle of a presidential campaign, fuel is one of the most sensitive issues in the race.
What each side wants
On the American side, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he expects the war to end "immediately" after the US midterm elections in November, and accused Tehran of trying to influence the vote. The internal read is darker: according to The Wall Street Journal, cited by the news site g1, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have privately warned that Iran could hold out until 2029, and the Pentagon has already extended part of its Middle East troop presence to 2027.
Iran's main card is the strait itself: making the route harder raises oil prices and imposes a political cost on Washington and its allies. Jordan, a monarchy allied with the United States, intercepted nearly all of the missiles to avoid being dragged into the war. The scene recalls the tanker war of the 1980s, when attacks on shipping in the Gulf led the Americans to escort merchant vessels. Military pressure is now joined by diplomatic pressure: the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), the UN's nuclear watchdog, has referred Iran to the Security Council over non-proliferation violations, as reported by g1.