Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
The United States and Iran are still fighting a war. On Tuesday, Iran hit two ships near the Strait of Hormuz. This is a narrow sea path where many oil ships travel.
One ship was hit by something flying through the air. The people on the ship got into a small lifeboat and left the ship.
The United States has now bombed Iran for ten nights in a row. Three more American soldiers died over the weekend. Many soldiers have died since the fighting started.
Because of the danger, fewer ships are using the Strait of Hormuz. Only nine ships passed through in one day. Normally, many more ships use this path.
- war
- fighting between countries or groups
- narrow
- not wide; having a small distance from side to side
- lifeboat
- a small boat used to save people from a sinking or burning ship
- bomb
- to attack a place with explosives dropped from the air or fired from far away
- soldier
- a person who serves in an army
- danger
- the chance that something bad or harmful will happen
- ship
- a large boat that carries people or goods across water
- fighting
- using force or weapons against someone
Level 2 — Elementary
The war between the United States and Iran grew more dangerous this week. On Tuesday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards struck two tankers trying to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman.
One tanker was hit by an unknown flying object about eight nautical miles from the coast of Oman. The crew left the ship in a lifeboat, and no injuries were reported right away.
At the same time, the United States carried out its tenth straight night of airstrikes on Iran. The Pentagon said three more American service members were killed over the weekend, two at a base in Jordan and one in northern Iraq.
The fighting has made the Strait of Hormuz much less busy. Normally, about one fifth of the world's oil passes through this strait every day. This week, only nine ships crossed it in twenty four hours.
- tanker
- a large ship built to carry liquid, such as oil
- waterway
- a river, canal, or other route that ships can travel on
- crew
- the group of people who work on a ship or aircraft
- airstrike
- an attack made by military aircraft or missiles
- Pentagon
- the headquarters of the United States military
- service member
- a person serving in the armed forces
- oil
- a thick liquid used as fuel and taken from under the ground or sea
- twenty four hours
- a full day and night, or one full turn of the clock
Level 3 — Intermediate
The conflict between the United States and Iran escalated further this week after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps struck two tankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway separating Iran from Oman through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil typically flows.
One vessel was struck by an unidentified projectile approximately eight nautical miles northeast of Limah, Oman, on Monday afternoon, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations center. Its crew abandoned ship and were reported adrift in a lifeboat by early Tuesday.
The strikes coincided with a tenth consecutive night of American airstrikes against Iranian targets. The Pentagon confirmed that three additional service members were killed over the weekend, two at a base in Jordan and one in northern Iraq, bringing the American death toll in the conflict to at least seventeen.
The sustained hostilities have severely disrupted commercial shipping through the strait. Daily traffic has fallen to a fraction of its usual volume, with only nine vessels transiting in a recent twenty four hour period, underscoring the growing economic cost of a conflict that shows no sign of a diplomatic resolution.
- escalate
- to become more intense or serious
- transit
- to travel through or across a place
- vessel
- a ship or large boat
- projectile
- an object that is thrown or fired through the air
- adrift
- floating without being controlled or steered
- consecutive
- following one after another without interruption
- hostilities
- acts of warfare; armed conflict
- diplomatic
- relating to the management of relations between countries, especially through negotiation
Level 4 — Advanced
The already volatile conflict between the United States and Iran escalated further this week when Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps struck two tankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow chokepoint separating Iran from Oman through which roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne oil typically passes.
One vessel sustained a strike from an unidentified projectile approximately eight nautical miles northeast of Limah, Oman, on Monday afternoon, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations center. Its crew subsequently abandoned ship and was reported adrift in a lifeboat by early Tuesday local time, though no casualties had yet been confirmed.
The maritime strikes coincided with a tenth consecutive night of American airstrikes against Iranian targets, part of a campaign the Pentagon says is intended to degrade the military capabilities Iranian forces have used against commercial shipping. Officials confirmed that three additional American service members were killed over the weekend, two at a base in Jordan and one in northern Iraq, pushing the conflict's American death toll to at least seventeen with nearly one hundred others wounded since fighting resumed.
The sustained hostilities have inflicted a severe economic toll on global shipping, with daily transits through the strait collapsing to a small fraction of typical volume, just nine vessels in a recent twenty four hour period, as the collapse of an interim memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran leaves no clear diplomatic path toward de-escalation.
- volatile
- likely to change suddenly and unpredictably, especially for the worse
- chokepoint
- a narrow passage that can be easily blocked or controlled, restricting the flow of traffic
- maritime
- relating to the sea or shipping
- degrade
- to reduce the effectiveness or quality of something
- casualties
- people who are killed or injured in a war or accident
- toll
- the cost or damage caused by something, often measured in lives or money
- collapse
- to fail suddenly and completely
- de-escalation
- a reduction in the intensity of a conflict
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