IRBIL, Iraq — Drones carrying explosives targeted a city in northern Iraq where U.S. forces are stationed, and sirens rang out in Bahrain on Friday, hours after the American military said it finished its 13th night of strikes against Iran.

The conflict has flared again over the past week, as the U.S. pounded Iran while Tehran attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz and targeted U.S. assets and allies in the region.

The strait, a crucial passage for the world’s energy supplies, is at the center of the latest fighting since Iranian attacks can effectively shut the waterway, sending fuel prices soaring worldwide and causing widespread economic turmoil. Oil prices have risen to $100 a barrel in the last few days.

In an interview with Axios on Thursday, President Donald Trump warned that “I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than ever before. I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it.”

The Iranian-allied Houthi rebels added further pressure this week by targeting two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, making good on a threat to cut off an alternative route for the region’s oil.

Despite the war’s unpopularity, the latest round of fighting has no clear off-ramp. Iran’s Health Ministry said 55 people have been killed and over 600 wounded in strikes in recent weeks.

The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 and have offered shifting goals for the war, including toppling Tehran’s government and eliminating its nuclear program. But the conflict has devolved into a fight for control of the strait — with Iran apparently hoping to win concessions by inflicting damage on the global economy and the U.S. trying to limit that damage.

U.S. strikes sites across Iran, and countries in the region are targeted

U.S.-led forces intercepted and shot down five explosive-laden drones Friday over Irbil, according to security officials in northern Iraq. No injuries or damage were reported.

An Associated Press journalist heard at least seven blasts in the city, the capital of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region, and saw at least four plumes of black smoke rising from areas near or inside a base at the city’s airport that hosts U.S. forces. Flights continued as normal at the airport, the state-run Iraqi News Agency reported, citing the facility’s director. U.S. military officials in Iraq did not respond to a request for comment.

In recent years, the U.S. maintained about 2,500 troops in Iraq for training and to conduct operations against the militant Islamic State group with Iraq’s military. Many of those have withdrawn, but a small contingent of military advisers and others remains — many of whom have moved to Irbil.

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Associated Press