Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
The United States and Iran are still fighting. The US Navy is stopping ships from reaching Iran's ports.
This is called a blockade. More than 20 US Navy ships are helping with the blockade.
US planes hit many targets in Iran. Iran says it destroyed a US base in Kuwait.
Very few ships can move through the Strait of Hormuz now. This makes oil prices go up around the world.
- blockade
- When military ships stop other ships from entering or leaving a place
- Navy
- The part of the military that uses ships
- strike
- A sudden military attack
- target
- A place or thing that is attacked
- strait
- A narrow strip of water connecting two seas
- tanker
- A large ship that carries oil
- military
- Related to soldiers, ships, and weapons of a country
- logistics
- The planning and moving of supplies and equipment
Level 2 — Elementary
The United States has reinstated a full naval blockade on Iranian ports and coastal waters, starting at 4 p.m. Eastern time. More than 20 US Navy warships and hundreds of military aircraft are taking part.
The blockade came just hours after US Central Command finished a wave of strikes on dozens of Iranian military targets near the Strait of Hormuz, hitting missile sites, drone bases, and coastal defenses.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps responded by claiming it destroyed what it called the US military's main logistics hub in Kuwait, during an operation it named 'Nasr 2.'
Roughly 20 percent of the world's oil and gas normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz, but tanker traffic has collapsed to about 2 percent of its usual level, with only one tanker a day now making the crossing.
- reinstate
- To bring something back into effect after it stopped
- warship
- A ship built and armed for naval combat
- coastal defense
- Military equipment used to protect a country's shoreline
- Revolutionary Guard Corps
- A branch of Iran's military separate from its regular armed forces
- logistics hub
- A central location used to organize supplies, equipment, and transport
- operation
- A planned military action
- collapse (traffic)
- To drop suddenly and sharply in amount
- crossing
- The act of traveling across a body of water
Level 3 — Intermediate
American forces have reinstated a comprehensive naval blockade against vessels traveling to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas, effective 4 p.m. Eastern time, with more than 20 US Navy warships and hundreds of military aircraft now operating across the Middle East.
The blockade followed a wave of US Central Command strikes completed at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, targeting dozens of Iranian military sites near the Strait of Hormuz with precision munitions aimed at missile and drone capabilities, naval assets, and coastal defense systems.
In response, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it had destroyed what it described as the US military's principal logistics and support hub in West Asia, located at Mina Abdullah, Kuwait, during a fourth wave of an operation it has code-named 'Nasr 2.'
The standoff has severely disrupted global trade routes, since roughly a fifth of the world's energy supplies typically transit the strait, yet tanker traffic has collapsed to just 2 percent of its pre-war baseline, with only a single tanker attempting the crossing per day.
- comprehensive
- Complete and including everything necessary
- vessel
- A ship or large boat
- precision munitions
- Weapons designed to hit a specific target very accurately
- naval asset
- Ships, submarines, or other equipment belonging to a navy
- principal
- Most important; main
- code-named
- Given a secret or official name for identification
- standoff
- A situation in which conflict continues without either side backing down
- baseline
- A starting point used for comparison
Level 4 — Advanced
American forces reinstated a comprehensive naval blockade against vessels transiting to and from Iranian ports and coastal waters at 4 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, deploying more than 20 US Navy warships alongside hundreds of military aircraft in an operation now spanning the breadth of the Middle East.
The blockade's activation followed the completion, at 10 p.m. Eastern time, of a wave of US Central Command strikes against dozens of Iranian military installations clustered near the Strait of Hormuz, employing precision munitions against missile and drone infrastructure, naval capabilities, and coastal defense emplacements.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps countered by asserting it had destroyed what it characterized as the United States military's principal logistics and support hub in West Asia, situated at Mina Abdullah, Kuwait, during a fourth successive wave of an operation designated 'Nasr 2.'
The protracted standoff has inflicted severe disruption on global trade, given that roughly a fifth of worldwide energy supplies ordinarily transit the strait; tanker throughput has nonetheless collapsed to a mere 2 percent of its pre-war baseline, with a single vessel now attempting the crossing daily even as diplomatic contacts between Washington and Tehran persist without resolution.
- transit (verb)
- To travel through or across a place
- deploy
- To move military forces or equipment into position for action
- installation
- A military base or facility
- infrastructure
- The basic physical systems and structures needed for operation
- emplacement
- A prepared position for military equipment, such as artillery or defenses
- protracted
- Lasting for a long time; drawn out
- throughput
- The amount of material or traffic passing through a system
- resolution (diplomatic)
- A settlement or ending of a conflict or disagreement
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