The United States carried out a third consecutive night of strikes against Iran as President Donald Trump reinstated a blockade on Iranian shipping and proposed charging a 20% fee on cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The renewed escalation triggered attacks on oil tankers, missile and drone exchanges across the Gulf, fresh threats from Tehran and Washington, and another sharp rise in global oil prices.
US Central Command said American forces began the latest operation on Monday at Trump’s direction and completed it later that night.
“During the five-hour mission, US forces successfully struck military targets across Iran including Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa and Bandar Abbas,” CENTCOM said in a statement on X.
The strikes marked the third consecutive night of US military action against Iran.
Shortly before CENTCOM announced the operation, Trump told the “Hugh Hewitt Show” that Iran would be hit “very hard tonight” and again the following day.
“There’s not a damn thing they can do about it,” the US president said.
Trump later told reporters at the White House that US forces were targeting Iranian military capabilities connected to the Strait of Hormuz.
Explosions reported across southern Iran
Soon after the renewed US strikes were announced, Iranian media reported explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas, on the islands of Kish, Qeshm and Abu Musa, and in other parts of southern Iran.
Iran’s Fars news agency said residents of Jam city in Bushehr province also heard several explosions, although the exact locations of the blasts were unclear. Reports of explosions continued for more than three hours, with no immediate casualties reported in those incidents.
Nournews later reported that areas of Bushehr’s coastal province had been struck in renewed American attacks. Bushehr is home to one of Iran’s major ports and a key nuclear facility.
Iran’s Mehr news agency also reported explosions in Bushehr and said several locations in Omidiyeh, in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, had been hit by US projectiles.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency, citing a provincial security official, said four people were wounded in Khuzestan early on Tuesday and that rescue operations were underway.
Trump reinstates blockade on Iranian shipping
Trump announced that the United States was restoring a blockade on Iranian shipping after Tehran said it was closing the Strait of Hormuz.
“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The US president also declared that Washington would become the “guardian” of the strategically important waterway.
“The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT’, but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped,” he said.
The US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center said the blockade would take effect at 2000 GMT on Tuesday.
It said the measure would apply to vessels of all flags and cover the entire Iranian coastline, including Iranian ports and oil terminals.
However, the centre said the blockade would not obstruct neutral vessels using the strait to travel to or from non-Iranian destinations. Humanitarian shipments would also be permitted, subject to inspection.
Iran rejects US claim to Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s top joint military command rejected Trump’s announcement, saying the United States had no role in deciding the future of the Strait of Hormuz and would not be allowed to intervene.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi also disputed Trump’s declaration that Washington would become the guardian of the waterway.
In a post on X, Araqchi said Iran was the true guardian of the strait and would remain so “forever”.
Responding to Trump’s proposed 20% cargo charge, the Iranian foreign minister added: “20% is of course too much. We will be fair.”
The United Nations shipping agency pushed back against Trump’s proposed cargo fee, saying it opposed charges on straits used for international navigation. It stressed that there was no legal basis for imposing mandatory tolls on vessels transiting an international strait.
Trump has previously suggested that the United States could charge ships for passing through Hormuz, but Washington has not implemented such a policy. It remains unclear how the administration would impose or collect the proposed 20% fee.
Iranian missiles hit Emirati oil tankers
The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defence said Iranian cruise missiles struck two Emirati oil tankers, the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah, while they were travelling through the southern lane of the Strait of Hormuz in Omani territorial waters.
One crew member was wounded and eight others were injured, according to the ministry.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency separately reported that a tanker had been struck by an unknown projectile about 40 nautical miles northeast of Qalhat, Oman.
UKMTO said all crew members aboard that vessel were safe.
Reuters could not immediately determine whether the UKMTO report concerned the same incident reported by the UAE Ministry of Defence. Iran did not immediately comment on the Emirati account.
IRGC says two ‘offending’ supertankers disabled
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said two “offending supertankers” had been struck and disabled in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to Iranian media, the IRGC said the vessels ignored repeated warnings, switched off their navigation systems and attempted to pass through what it described as a “mined route”.
The statement did not identify the tankers or clarify whether they were the same vessels named by the UAE.
The Revolutionary Guards accused the United States of encouraging vessels to use an “illegal route”.
The IRGC warned that cooperation with the “aggressor enemy” would cause further damage, delay the reopening of the strait and risk creating a global energy crisis.
Iran claims attack on hostile US vessel
Iranian state television cited the Iranian military as saying it had targeted a “hostile” US vessel with cruise missiles. Iranian media also reported that the Revolutionary Guards had shot down a US MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz.
There was no immediate independent confirmation of either claim. The reports came as sirens sounded early on Tuesday in Bahrain, which hosts the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
Bahrain intercepts Iranian aerial attacks
Bahrain’s air defence systems intercepted and destroyed Iranian aerial attacks over the kingdom, according to Nabeel Alhamer, media adviser to Bahrain’s king.
Alhamer posted the same statement twice within 15 minutes, although it was not immediately clear whether he was referring to separate waves of attacks.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted weapons warehouses, a satellite communications centre and a building housing US forces at Bahrain’s Juffair base.
The IRGC later claimed that its missile and drone attacks destroyed the air-control radar used by the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. It also said its naval and aerospace forces had struck a Patriot radar and an early-warning C-RAM radar system.
The Revolutionary Guards further claimed that fuel-storage tanks and a control centre for unmanned boats had been destroyed, adding that retaliatory operations were continuing.
There was no immediate response from the United States or Bahrain to the Iranian claims.
US facilities in Kuwait targeted
Iranian state television also cited the military as saying that drones had been used to attack US facilities and equipment in Kuwait.
The latest claims followed earlier exchanges of missile and drone attacks involving Iran, American forces and US-linked military facilities across the Gulf.
No immediate independent confirmation of the reported damage in Kuwait was available.
Jordan intercepts four missiles
Jordan said its forces intercepted and destroyed four missiles that entered Jordanian airspace from Iranian territory, according to the state news agency.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards later said an airbase in Jordan hosting US troops had been targeted with ballistic missiles on Tuesday.
In a statement carried by Fars News Agency, the IRGC called on Jordanians to demand the dismantling of American bases in 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.
US officials said about 20 vessels had been escorted through the Strait of Hormuz during the previous 24 hours. However, commercial ship-tracking data showed that little traffic was moving through the waterway.
MarineTraffic said vessel activity through the strait fell by approximately 52% between July 10 and July 12 compared with the previous week.
Iran’s weekend announcement that it was closing the passage, followed by US strikes and renewed maritime attacks, has cast further doubt on an interim agreement intended to halt the wider conflict.
US cancels consular appointments in UAE
The US Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the US Consulate General in Dubai cancelled consular appointments scheduled from July 13 to July 15 because of the regional security situation.
The cancellations were announced in an embassy security alert as attacks and interceptions continued across the Gulf.
Trump notifies Congress of renewed hostilities
Trump formally notified the US Congress that hostilities against Iran had resumed on July 7. His administration views the notification as opening a new 60-day period during which the president can conduct military operations in the region without additional congressional approval.
“I directed this military action consistent with my responsibility to protect Americans and United States’ national security and foreign policy interests,” Trump said in the letter.
The notification was dated July 10 and was seen by Reuters on Monday.
Oil prices surge as conflict threatens supplies
Before the conflict began in February, about one-fifth of the world’s daily oil and gas traffic passed through the Strait of Hormuz. More than 15 million barrels of fuel, valued at at least $1.2 billion, moved through the waterway each day.
A 20% US charge on that cargo could generate approximately $240 million daily, although the proposed collection mechanism and its legality remain unclear.
Oil prices jumped more than 9% on Monday as traders reacted to the threat of prolonged disruption in the strait. Brent crude futures recorded their biggest single-day dollar increase since April 2 and reached their highest settlement since June 12.
US crude futures posted their largest daily gain since April 29 and settled at their highest level since June 15.
The Iran war began on February 28, when the United States and Israel attacked Iran. Tehran responded by launching strikes against Israel and Gulf countries hosting American military bases.
The conflict has destabilised the Gulf, disrupted international shipping and spread to other parts of the region.
US-Israeli strikes in Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands of people and displaced millions, according to the report. The fighting has also shaken global markets, raised energy costs and intensified concerns about a wider regional war.
With Washington enforcing a new blockade, Tehran claiming attacks on US-linked military assets and maritime traffic declining sharply, the future of the Strait of Hormuz remains increasingly uncertain.
