Missile Strikes and Naval Escalation Threaten Fragile Gulf Cease-Fire

US military forces said they destroyed six Iranian small boats and ‌intercepted Iranian missiles and drones as a new American effort to get commercial shipping traffic flowing through the critical Strait of Hormuz got underway. Iran, meanwhile, launched at least four missiles across the Persian Gulf at the United Arab Emirates on May 4, prompting an angry response and a threat of retaliation from the Gulf nation. The US ally said three of the missiles were shot down. With fears that an already shaky US cease-fire was on the verge of outright…