The United States launched multiple waves of air and naval strikes against Iranian military targets on Wednesday and resumed a full maritime blockade of Iranian ports, marking a sharp escalation in the three-week-old conflict. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated that a 90-minute daylight operation employing precision-guided munitions struck coastal defence systems, cruise-missile storage sites and launch positions on Greater Tunb Island, a strategically located territory in the Persian Gulf. The operation followed a seven-hour overnight bombardment that, according to CENTCOM, hit dozens of targets near the Strait of Hormuz and along Iran’s southern coastline, including missile and drone facilities, naval assets and air-defence batteries. Simultaneously, US naval forces began enforcing a cordon, with CENTCOM claiming it had already diverted two commercial vessels attempting to breach the blockade.

Viewed from Washington, the operations are designed to degrade Iran’s ability to threaten freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for roughly one-fifth of global oil consumption. President Donald Trump, speaking on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Ankara, declared that a ceasefire understanding with Tehran no longer existed and warned that next week’s strikes would expand to include power plants and bridges unless a new agreement is reached. US officials maintain that the blockade and targeting of coastal defence infrastructure are necessary to protect commercial shipping and civilian crews from what they describe as Iranian attacks on merchant vessels.

From Tehran’s standpoint, the US actions constitute a violation of the Islamabad memorandum, a June accord that assigned Iran, in coordination with Oman, responsibility for regulating maritime security in the Strait. Iranian state media reported that the country’s armed forces responded with several waves of missile and drone operations against US command, logistics and air-defence centres across West Asia. Iran International, a London-based Persian-language outlet, reported that retaliatory strikes hit targets in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and a US base in Jordan, though these claims were not independently confirmed. On the ground, Iranian officials acknowledged that a barracks of the 388th Mechanised Infantry Brigade near Bampur was struck, killing at least seven soldiers, while the health ministry said more than 260 people were injured in the latest round of attacks. The governor of Bushehr province confirmed three sites were hit, but stated there were no civilian casualties there, even as a government spokeswoman put the civilian death toll from recent days at over 30.

The resumption of hostilities follows the collapse of a fragile truce brokered in June after months of confrontation. The US resumed military operations on 7 July, citing alleged Iranian attacks on vessels south of Hormuz, and has since coupled airstrikes with a renewed blockade and fresh sanctions. Analysts in the region note that the conflict is now drawing in neighbouring states, with Iran’s claimed strikes on Gulf Cooperation Council members and Jordan threatening to widen the theatre of operations. With no diplomatic channel currently active and Trump’s ultimatum set to expire next week, the dossier remains in a phase of open military escalation, and further US operations are expected to be announced in the coming days.