On 10 May US merchant vessels were warned of potential threats to commercial shipping and oil production infrastructure in the seas near Iran. On 13 May two Saudi oil tankers were attacked as they prepared to cross into the Persian Gulf. ‘Significant damage to the two vessels’ halted further movement. Meanwhile seven (Iran-backed) Houthi drones targeted two (US-backed) Saudi pumping stations along a pipeline carrying 5m barrels of crude oil a day; in response, the USA has deployed aircraft strike groups and B-52 bombers to the region. On 15 May Iranian newspapers reported that Tehran will resume higher nuclear enrichment (beyond the permitted 3.67%) in sixty days if no new agreement is reached about sanctions being lifted. The US embassy in Baghdad has ordered all non-essential and non-emergency staff to leave Iraq immediately, as tensions grow between Washington and Iran. See