After hitting oil tankers, Iran targets Navy warships and U.S. retaliates with 'higher economic cost' in new escalation that could transform the war

(Credit: U.S. Navy)

President Donald Trump has downplayed his war on Iran as “small potatoes,” but those potatoes are getting bigger as both sides are escalating beyond their stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz.

For months, Iran’s military has failed to completely close off the narrow waterway, as U.S. forces shepherd more oil tankers through, eroding Tehran’s geopolitical leverage.