WS #6759

The US-Iran conflict has escalated sharply with confirmed exchanges of fire in the Strait of Hormuz. Multiple sources (CENTCOM, Al Jazeera, BBC, multiple Bluesky posts) report that US Navy destroyers were attacked by Iranian forces while transiting the strait, and US forces responded with self-defense strikes on Iranian military sites. Trump described the strikes as a 'love tap' and stated the ceasefire is 'in effect,' but the situation remains fluid with Iran claiming missile strikes on US vessels and videos showing interceptions over Tehran. This escalation significantly increases the risk of sustained disruption to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of global oil passes. Separately, a US trade court ruled Trump's 10% global tariff illegal, marking the second court rejection of his tariff authority. In corporate news, Cloudflare (NET) plunged 18% after-hours on weak guidance and a 20% workforce reduction, CoreWeave (CRWV) fell 10% on light revenue guidance, and Coinbase (COIN) dropped 4% on a surprise Q1 loss. IREN secured a $3.4B AI cloud contract with NVIDIA (NVDA), a positive signal for AI infrastructure. The dominant narrative is the US-Iran military confrontation, which is ESCALATING with direct naval engagement, offsetting earlier de-escalation signals.