Washingtonian/Tehran (Web Desk): The United States launched another series of airstrikes across Iran early Tuesday, extending its military campaign into a third consecutive day after President Donald Trump declared the restoration of a blockade on Iranian ports and proposed a 20 per cent charge on cargo passing through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.
Even as the attacks continued, Trump insisted there was still room for diplomacy with Tehran. His remarks came after the United Arab Emirates said Iran had attacked two vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, leaving one crew member dead.
At the same time, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that it had struck and disabled two "offending supertankers" in the waterway. According to the force, the vessels ignored repeated warnings, switched off their navigation systems and attempted to travel through a "mined route."
The IRGC did not reveal the identities of the ships or clarify whether they were the same vessels referred to by the UAE’s Ministry of Defence.
In its statement, the Guards accused the United States of encouraging ships to navigate through what it described as an unlawful route and cautioned that any cooperation with the "aggressor enemy" would lead to further destruction, delays in reopening the strait and a wider global energy crisis.
The US military said its latest operation, lasting nearly five hours, struck multiple sites across Iran, including targets in Bushehr and Bandar Abbas, with the objective of reducing Tehran’s ability to threaten international commercial shipping.
US Central Command (Centcom) said precision-guided weapons were used against Iranian coastal defence positions, missile and drone facilities, and maritime assets.
Centcom added that more than 50,000 American troops remain stationed across the Middle East.
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 14, 2026
Following the US operation, the IRGC announced retaliatory missile and drone attacks on Bahrain, claiming it targeted a residential building housing US personnel as well as several other military-related facilities.
Iran said the strikes hit weapons storage sites, a satellite communications centre and accommodation used by US forces at Bahrain’s Juffair base.
The IRGC further claimed its missile and drone campaign destroyed the US Navy Fifth Fleet’s air-control radar in Bahrain, along with a Patriot radar and an early warning C-RAM radar system.
It also asserted that fuel storage tanks and a command centre controlling unmanned boats had been destroyed.
Neither Washington nor Bahraini authorities immediately responded to the Iranian claims.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s state-run media reported that its air defence systems intercepted and shot down four missiles that entered the kingdom’s airspace from Iran.
Later, the IRGC said in a statement carried by Iran’s Fars News Agency that it had launched ballistic missiles at an air base in Jordan hosting American troops.
The statement also urged Jordanians to remove US military bases from their country.
"You know very well that not only do we not have any enmity with your country, but we also love you, the noble people, who understand the pain and oppression of the Palestinian people more than any other nation," the statement said.
Although Tehran maintains that its operations are directed only at US interests in the Gulf region, an Iranian military spokesman warned that any Gulf state assisting Washington would be regarded as committing "an act of war."
Trump’s announcement restoring the blockade on Iranian ports came after the United States and Iran exchanged their most significant attacks since the April ceasefire, fuelling renewed uncertainty over hopes of ending the conflict permanently.
Iran began restricting passage through the Strait of Hormuz after US and Israeli strikes on Iranian territory in late February triggered a broader conflict. Although restrictions were later eased under a preliminary agreement reached between Tehran and Washington in June, the latest developments have effectively reversed those measures.
On Monday, Trump announced that the United States was "taking over" the Strait of Hormuz and would introduce a 20pc levy on all cargo transported through the key maritime route
Writing on Truth Social, Trump declared the United States would be "known as 'THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT'" and levy a 20pc fee on all cargo shipped through the waterway.
He added that while Iranian ports would once again face a blockade, "all other countries will have fair and open use of the strait".
US Central Command later confirmed that Iran’s ports along the strategic waterway would be blockaded from 2000 GMT on Tuesday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi mocked Trump’s announcement in a post on X, saying the US president was "absolutely right" that whoever guaranteed safe passage should be compensated.
"Twenty per cent is of course too much," he said.
POTUS is absolutely right. Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) July 13, 2026
Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait and will remain so FOREVER.
20% is of course too much. We will be fair
The United States has consistently opposed Iran’s attempts to impose tolls on vessels using the Strait of Hormuz, arguing that such charges are prohibited under international law.
The White House also confirmed that Trump had formally notified Congress last week that the United States had resumed military operations against Iran, allowing the Pentagon to continue its activities in the region for another 60 days without additional congressional approval.
Alongside developments in the Gulf, Trump warned that the United States could destroy Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified nuclear site near Natanz that Western intelligence agencies believe may house an undeclared uranium enrichment facility.
"Tell the Iranians to be ready. Let them know we’re coming [and] there’s not a damn thing they can do about it," he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Despite the escalating conflict, Trump maintained on Monday that a negotiated settlement with Tehran remained within reach.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the June memorandum of understanding, which had laid the foundation for negotiations and led to the easing of the US blockade, was now "in crisis."
Baqaei said Iran would no longer honour its commitments under the interim agreement if Washington also failed to uphold its obligations, while confirming that Tehran remained engaged with mediators from Qatar, Pakistan and Oman in an effort to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
Bader Al-Saif, an associate fellow at Chatham House, said the growing intensity of the conflict was likely to postpone any lasting settlement.
"Both sides want to end the impasse on their own terms, and they are increasingly finding it difficult to do so. Hence, the return to and increase in the scale of attacks," he said.