The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the completion of a third wave of strikes against Iran in the early hours of Sunday, targeting approximately 140 military sites with precision munitions launched from land- and sea-based fighter aircraft, drones, and naval vessels. The barrage, which brought the total number of Iranian targets hit over three nights to more than 300, was a direct response to what Washington described as a “blatant” attack by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the Cyprus-flagged container vessel M/V GFS Galaxy as it transited the Strait of Hormuz. According to CENTCOM, the ship suffered severe engine-room damage and a civilian crew member is missing, prompting the United States to pursue what it calls a campaign to degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial shipping in the critical waterway. The strikes hit missile and drone bases, naval assets, ammunition depots, communication networks, and coastal surveillance posts, the command said.

Viewed from Tehran, the escalation follows an IRGC announcement that the Strait of Hormuz would be closed “until further notice” and until what it termed “American interference” in the region ceased. Iranian state media reported that a warning shot was fired at a vessel attempting an unauthorized route before it was stopped. Senior Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf declared that the era of unequal agreements is over and warned that Tehran had conveyed to the other side that commitments must be honoured or consequences would follow. Within hours, Iranian forces claimed to have struck US Patriot systems in Kuwait, an early-warning radar in Qatar, and a communications and radar site in Bahrain, and later launched ten ballistic missiles at the al-Azraq base in Jordan, which hosts American troops. The Iranian army cautioned that further US attacks would draw “stronger responses” and blamed regional insecurity on “the American-Zionist enemy.”

The latest hostilities unravel a fragile ceasefire built around a memorandum of understanding that, according to analysts in London and Washington, proved unworkable due to contradictory interpretations. The deal, initially pausing combat that erupted in February 2026, required Iran to ensure safe passage and remove military obstacles for 60 days. But whereas Washington read it as an obligation to open the strait unconditionally, Tehran interpreted it as granting the Islamic Republic exclusive oversight of the waterway. The collapse was triggered on 8 July when IRGC naval forces attacked three commercial vessels, including Qatari and Emirati gas carriers and a Saudi tanker. The US retaliated with strikes on 80 coastal targets, and Iran launched a wave of retaliatory attacks on American-linked sites across the Gulf. The wider US-Iran military confrontation, codenamed “Epic Fury” by the Pentagon, has seen the first combat use of US LUCAS loitering munitions—reverse-engineered from Iranian Shahed drones—as well as Tomahawk missile strikes. By April, US casualties stood at 13 dead and 380 wounded, while Iranian media reported 14 killed and 78 injured in the current round.

The Strait of Hormuz remains the fulcrum of the crisis. CENTCOM stated that commercial traffic continues, aided by US forces that have facilitated the transit of more than 800 ships and 400 million barrels of crude oil since early May. Yet the pattern of attack and reprisal has roiled energy markets and triggered defensive measures across the Gulf. Kuwait intercepted a cruise missile, three ballistic missiles, and ten drones; Jordan reported shooting down eight missiles after airspace violations; Bahrain and the UAE issued warnings and activated sirens. Governments in Doha and other regional capitals have called for a return to diplomacy, but with the memorandum dead and both Washington and Tehran linking any de-escalation to maximalist terms—full Iranian retreat from closure threats versus a complete halt to American military operations—no formal channel remains open. Military planners in both capitals prepare for further exchanges.