The United States intensified its strikes targeting Iran early Thursday, hitting targets further north as American forces also fired on a ship it accused of trying to break its naval blockade. Iran retaliated with missile and drone fire targeting Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait before dawn and warned its attacks may escalate.
The U.S. military’s Central Command stated that another wave of strikes hit dozens of targets over seven hours on Wednesday, as the U.S. reimposed a blockade on Iran. On Thursday, U.S. strikes hit areas around Tehran, state media reported, and also targeted Semnan province, which is known for its ballistic missile production and space program.
Iranian media also reported strikes Thursday morning around the provinces of Hamedan, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Lorestan, Markazi, and Sistan and Baluchistan. On Wednesday, the U.S. resumed striking Iran during daylight hours, increasing the tempo of attacks. An attack on Greater Tunb Island, a strategic point in the Strait of Hormuz, targeted Iranian defense and missile sites, Central Command said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military reported it opened fire on the Curacao-flagged oil tanker Belma, which was sailing toward Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf. After the ship ignored multiple warnings, a U.S. aircraft disabled the vessel by firing a missile into its smokestack.
Another American strike on Wednesday targeted a barracks for Iran’s 388th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in Sistan and Baluchestan province. Iranian state television reported that Americans fired at least 13 missiles in that attack, resulting in seven deaths, including conscripts and career soldiers, and wounding a number of troops.
Iran retaliated Thursday with missile and drone attacks on Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait, authorities in those countries, which host U.S. forces, confirmed. There was no immediate acknowledgment of damage or casualties from these attacks.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi condemned an overnight drone attack on the city of Irbil in Iraq’s semiautonomous northern Kurdish region. The drone, which authorities said had been intercepted, occurred during his trip to the U.S., where he had stated Iraq would work to disarm non-state armed groups, including those backed by Iran.
When the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, Tehran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic. This move sent the prices of oil, fertilizer, and many other goods soaring far beyond the region and gave Iran significant leverage in negotiations. Washington has struggled to successfully reopen the waterway, leading President Donald Trump to reimpose the naval blockade on Wednesday. Mediators have sought to calm the tensions but have been unsuccessful so far.
Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, escalated Iran’s threats by referencing U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated warnings that America could hit Iranian bridges and power plants. “All the infrastructure in the region will be crushed under the steel blows of the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran” should Trump’s threat be carried out, Zolfaghari said. He added, “Under no circumstances and in no way will we allow America, as a foreign and extra-regional country, to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz. This is Iran’s invincible red line.”
The rising prices pose a particular challenge to Trump and his Republican Party, which hopes to retain control of Congress in elections in November. President Trump commented on Wednesday at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania, stating, “They don’t like what we’re doing, and they do want to settle. We’ll find out whether or not we settle with them, or we just finish it off.”
Separately, Trump announced on social media that Tehran had made a goodwill gesture by releasing an American citizen who had been wrongly detained in Iran since 2024. Human rights lawyer Jared Genser later identified the detainee as his client, Dena Karari, a U.S.-Iranian citizen who runs a nonprofit and was charged with espionage. Iran did not immediately acknowledge the release, and her case was not publicly known, which is sometimes the situation with detentions in the Islamic Republic.
In recent days, Iran has attacked ships using the route, leading to back-and-forth attacks. The U.S. has threatened to reopen the strait by force, but experts suggest this would require a much larger armada, if not tens of thousands of ground troops. Imposing the blockade is another strategy to exert pressure on Iran.
Meanwhile, oil prices are rising. The price for Brent crude oil, the international standard, traded above $85 a barrel on Thursday, more than 15% higher than its price before the war, though still well below the nearly $120 reached at the conflict's height.
