The United States carried out another wave of strikes on Iran early Tuesday, marking the third consecutive night of attacks, after President Donald Trump announced the reimposition of a blockade on Iranian ports and proposed a 20 per cent fee on cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite the ongoing military action, Trump said a deal with Iran remained possible. The escalation came as Tehran targeted vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, with the United Arab Emirates reporting that two ships were hit and one crew member was killed. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had struck and disabled two “offending supertankers”, claiming they had ignored warnings and attempted to pass through a “mined route”.
The US military said its latest five-hour operation targeted locations across Iran, including coastal areas near Bushehr and Bandar Abbas. US Central Command (Centcom) said precision weapons were used against Iranian coastal defence systems, missile and drone sites, and maritime capabilities to reduce Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping.
Following the US strikes, the IRGC said it launched missile and drone attacks on Bahrain, targeting facilities linked to American forces, including a residential building, weapons storage areas, a satellite communications centre and a US military housing facility at Bahrain’s Juffair base.
The IRGC also claimed it had destroyed US Navy Fifth Fleet air control radar, Patriot radar systems, early-warning C-RAM radar, fuel storage tanks and a control centre for unmanned boats. There was no immediate response from Washington or Bahrain regarding the claims.
Meanwhile, Jordanian state media reported that its forces intercepted and destroyed four missiles that entered its airspace from Iranian territory. Later, the IRGC said it had targeted an air base in Jordan hosting US forces with ballistic missiles and urged Jordanians to oppose the presence of American military bases.
Iran has maintained that it is only targeting US interests in the Gulf, but Iranian military officials warned that any cooperation between Gulf countries and Washington would be considered “an act of war.”
Hormuz blockade
Trump’s announcement of a blockade on Iranian ports followed a major escalation in US-Iran hostilities after attacks resumed following a fragile ceasefire that had paused the conflict.
Iran began restricting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz after US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February triggered a wider conflict. The blockade led Washington to impose restrictions on Iranian ports, though these measures were eased after a preliminary agreement was reached in June.
Trump said the United States was “taking over” the Strait of Hormuz and announced that a 20 per cent fee would be imposed on all cargo passing through the waterway. He declared on Truth Social that the US would be “known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT’” while ensuring access for other countries.
Centcom said Iran’s ports along the waterway would face a blockade from 2000 GMT on Tuesday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi mocked the announcement on X, saying Trump was “absolutely right” that those ensuring safe passage deserved compensation, but argued that Tehran would charge less.
“Twenty per cent is of course too much,” he said.
Renewed hostilities
The White House confirmed that Trump had formally informed Congress that the US had resumed military conflict with Iran, allowing the Pentagon to continue operations in the region for an additional 60 days without further congressional approval.
Trump also threatened possible action against Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried nuclear site near Natanz that Western intelligence agencies suspect Iran may be using for an undeclared 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.
Although tensions continue to rise, Trump said negotiations with Tehran were still possible. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the June memorandum of understanding that supported negotiations and eased the US blockade was “in crisis.”
Baqaei warned that Iran would not follow its commitments if Washington abandoned its own obligations but said Tehran was still engaging with mediators from Qatar, Pakistan and Oman to prevent further escalation.
Bader Al-Saif, an associate fellow at Chatham House, said the increased military confrontation would likely delay a long-term agreement.
“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.
