The United States reimposed its naval blockade on Iranian ports on Tuesday and launched a new wave of air and naval strikes, while President Donald Trump warned that American forces would begin targeting power plants and bridges next week unless Tehran returns to negotiations. In response, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed and threatened to halt all energy exports from the Middle East, stating that “the export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one.” The IRGC also claimed attacks on US military targets in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan, with Kuwaiti and Bahraini authorities confirming interceptions of drones and missiles.

According to US Central Command, the strikes aim to “further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping” in the strait, and the blockade is intended to pressure Iran’s economy. Trump, in a Fox News interview, said US negotiators had told Iranian counterparts they “better make a deal, or you’re not going to have anything left,” and he described the military campaign as continuing “until I say it’s enough.” Tehran’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, wrote that “the U.S. is the aggressor, not the victim,” while Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state television that Washington was mistaken if it believed military and economic pressure would force Iran back to talks. Viewed from Gulf capitals, the escalation has revived fears of a wider regional war, with Qatar condemning Iranian attacks on its neighbours as an “egregious violation” of sovereignty.

The renewed hostilities have virtually halted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas normally transits, pushing crude prices to one-month highs. The US military said Iranian attacks on seven commercial vessels in the past week killed, injured, or left missing nearly a dozen civilian crew members; the United Arab Emirates reported that cruise missiles struck two of its tankers, killing at least two and wounding eight. International humanitarian law experts note that Trump’s threat to strike power plants and bridges—civilian infrastructure protected under the 1949 Geneva Conventions—would, if carried out, constitute a war crime, as the UN human rights chief previously stated when similar threats were made in April. Iran’s Health Ministry reported over 260 wounded in the latest US strikes, and government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said more than 30 civilians had been killed in recent days.

The US and Israel launched the war on Iran on 28 February, after which Tehran effectively closed the strait, sending energy and fertilizer prices soaring. An interim ceasefire signed in mid-June established a 60-day negotiation window, but talks stalled as fighting over the waterway intensified. Trump initially announced a 20% fee on ships transiting the strait, then reversed the plan hours before the blockade resumed, citing offers from Gulf states to instead make “massive” trade and investment deals with the United States. With more than 20 US warships and hundreds of aircraft deployed in the region, and Iran showing no sign of backing down, no new diplomatic track has been announced, and both sides continue to exchange fire.