Trump flip flops on Iran war: Does US have a goal after setting Middle East on fire?

Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, issued his first formal address since taking power on Thursday. The 56-year-old cleric delivered a blistering statement vowing "regret-inducing" revenge for the Minab schoolgirls massacre and the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Supreme Leader declared that Iran would not "bow down" and pledged that the military blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would continue indefinitely.

Meanwhile, the maritime chokepoint has turned into a combat zone following a series of strikes on commercial shipping. On Wednesday, the US-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker MT Safesea Vishnu was struck by an Iranian suicide drone boat near the Iraqi port of Basra. The vessel was conducting ship-to-ship cargo operations when it was rammed by an explosive-laden unmanned speedboat. 

The Indian Embassy in Baghdad confirmed the death of one Indian seafarer in the attack. While 15 other Indian crew members were successfully evacuated to safety by the Iraqi Coast Guard, the death has sparked outrage in New Delhi.