Thu, September 17, 2026
Washington/Tehran (Web Desk): The United States (US) carried out fresh military attacks on Iran on Monday for the second straight day, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes against US-linked military positions across the Gulf as tensions over the Strait of Hormuz escalated further.
The renewed exchange of attacks has further weakened the interim agreement between Washington and Tehran, which had been aimed at ending the conflict that has rattled global markets since late February.
US Central Command (Centcom) said its latest military operation began at 2100 GMT on Sunday, less than 24 hours after an earlier offensive in which it claimed around 140 Iranian military sites had been struck.
In a statement posted on X, Centcom said it had completed another round of “offensive strikes” against Iran, targeting “dozens of targets at multiple locations with precision munitions to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking international shipping flowing through the Strait of Hormuz”.
At 5 p.m. ET today, U.S. Central Command forces began launching more strikes against Iran to continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The Commander in Chief has directed the strikes to hold Iranian…
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 12, 2026
“Centcom forces struck Iranian military air-defence systems, coastal radar sites, missile and drone capabilities, and small boats using US fighter aircraft, naval vessels, one-way attack aerial drones, and one-way attack sea drones for the first time,” it added.
Centcom also repeated that Iran has no control over the Strait of Hormuz, saying US forces “are postured and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available to commercial shipping despite Iran’s continued unwarranted aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations”.
Iranian state media reported that the latest US attacks hit several areas in southern and western Iran, including Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz, and Khuzestan province along the Iraqi border.
State media also quoted an Iranian official as saying an agricultural water pumping station in Mahshahr was damaged in the strikes. According to IRNA, one person was killed and four others were injured, citing the deputy governor of Khuzestan.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced retaliatory operations against US military facilities and bases in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.
IRNA reported that the Guards targeted Prince Hassan Air Base in Jordan, a US military drone command centre in Bahrain, and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait.
The IRGC claimed its missile and drone strikes ignited fuel storage tanks and ammunition depots at the Jordanian base, describing the attack on Prince Hassan Air Base as the first stage of its response.
It also said Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa Air Base was struck during the second phase of the operation. While the US Fifth Fleet is headquartered elsewhere in Bahrain, Sheikh Isa has hosted American military aircraft and operations.
The Guards further claimed attacks on Kuwait’s Ali Al Salem and Ahmad Al Jaber military bases, both of which host US forces.
In another statement, the IRGC said its naval units destroyed US military facilities in Jafirah, Bahrain, and targeted radar systems in Oman. It also claimed that an Iranian air defence unit shot down a US Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drone near Bandar Abbas on Monday, according to Mehr News.
There was no immediate response from the United States to those claims.
The IRGC said ending US military involvement in the Strait of Hormuz was the only way to restore normal shipping, warning that continued intervention could trigger wider disruption in the global oil and gas sector.
Oil markets reacted quickly, with US benchmark WTI crude rising more than 3.5 per cent to above $74 a barrel when trading opened in Tokyo on Monday.
On Sunday evening, Iran reported strikes on two southern islands, while Kuwait said border posts and an offshore oil platform had come under attack.
The latest escalation followed what Iran described as a warning shot at a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, forcing its crew to abandon the ship after it caught fire.
After the incident, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards declared “the Strait of Hormuz would be closed until further notice and until the end of American interventions in this region,” according to IRNA.
Centcom rejected the claim, stating on X that the waterway remained “open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transit”. It added that US forces were “positioned and prepared to ensure” freedom of navigation, saying: “Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing.”
The Strait of Hormuz is open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transit the international waterway. U.S. forces are positioned and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available despite unwarranted Iranian aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary… pic.twitter.com/FS3TUBOZEj
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 12, 2026
Ship-tracking firm Kpler reported that only six vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, the lowest daily traffic recorded in five weeks.
Iranian media also reported explosions in several port cities.
The IRGC later claimed it had destroyed a command-and-control centre and drone hangars in Jordan, struck a US radar site in Kuwait, attacked aircraft carrier support and refuelling platforms in Oman, and destroyed a jet maintenance centre and command facility in Qatar.
Diplomatic efforts are continuing, with Pakistan among the countries seeking to revive talks after US President Donald Trump declared this week that the ceasefire reached with Iran following the June 18 interim agreement was no longer in effect.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar urged restraint during a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday.
“Dialogue and diplomacy remain the only viable path to resolving disputes and achieving lasting peace,” Dar said.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also appealed for calm, with his spokesman saying, “these attacks must stop.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the latest US strikes had “caused the return of insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz” and “have rendered futile all efforts” to restore peace in the region.
An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader said control of the Strait of Hormuz had become one of Tehran’s most valuable strategic assets, describing it as more important than “dozens of atomic bombs”.
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