Wednesday, July 8th 2026 - 21:20 UTC
The escalation is the most serious since the two countries signed a memorandum last month to end their war
United States forces launched new strikes on Wednesday against Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz, after President Donald Trump declared the provisional ceasefire with Tehran “over.” US Central Command confirmed the operation and said it aimed to degrade Iran's ability to threaten freedom of navigation through the waterway, which carries close to a fifth of the world's oil.
The escalation is the most serious since the two countries signed a memorandum last month to end their war. It began on Monday, when Iran attacked at least three merchant ships linked to Saudi, Emirati and Qatari interests as they crossed the strait. In response, Washington withdrew its authorization for international sales of Iranian oil — one of the concessions Tehran had obtained in the pact — and, on Tuesday night, struck more than eighty targets inside Iran. Iran, in turn, launched attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait.
From the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump had signaled that the offensive would continue and declared the understanding with Tehran finished, describing it as an unreliable counterpart. Hours later, at a news conference, he softened his tone and said he sought to send a warning rather than a definitive break: he maintained that the new strike would “end very soon” and that he did not expect the war to “start again.”
