A man walks next to a symbolic mockup of an Iranian missile and an Iranian flag at Imam Hussein Square in Tehran, Iran, on July 12, 2026
| Photo Credit: via Reuters
The U.S. military said it has launched another round of strikes against Iran “to degrade their ability to attack commercial ships freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz.” The strikes, which took place overnight and into early Monday (July 13, 2026) in Iran, came after attacks by the military on Sunday morning in response to an Iranian strike on a container ship in the critical waterway the day before.
Iran responded to those strikes by attacking Gulf Arab states in an escalating cycle of violence that left the negotiations between Tehran and Washington to end the war at the edge of collapse.
The governor of Qeshm Island near the strait told Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency that projectiles were fired at military targets, with no casualties. Explosions were also heard in the coastal city of Bandar Abbas and Hajiabad city to the north.
A U.S. official said a few strikes were conducted on missile and air defence systems and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard boats at a couple of locations to further degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly discuss military operations.
Iran and the U.S. are nearly at the midway point of the 60 days of their interim deal aimed at reaching a permanent end to the war. The Strait, a key route for the global supply of oil and natural gas and long considered an international waterway, has become a sticking point in negotiations that seem in danger of collapse.
“A return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said, according to a statement.
Heavier attacks
The attacks by the U.S. were heavier than in recent days. The U.S. has launched three rounds of airstrikes targeting Iran in the past week over attacks on ships heading through the strait using a route off Oman, seeking to avoid the Islamic Republic’s territorial waters.
“We bombed the hell out of them last night,” President Donald Trump told NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’.
Semi-official Iranian news agencies reported that a navy officer was killed. Iran retaliated by attacking nations in the region hosting US military forces, while insisting it alone must control the strait and potentially charge vessels for travelling through it.
Oman summons Iranian envoy to protest attack
Missile alerts sounded across several Gulf Arab countries. Qatar’s military said it intercepted incoming Iranian fire, with explosions heard in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates. Three people, including a child, were wounded by shrapnel from the interception of attacks, Qatar’s Interior Ministry said.
Missile alerts sounded in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.
Kuwait’s Defence Ministry said three “land border posts” in the north and an offshore drilling platform of the Kuwait Oil Company were damaged, with one worker wounded.
Three Iranian missiles struck areas across Jordan, causing minor damage but no injuries, Jordan’s state news agency reported.
And the Omani state news agency said drones struck sites in an area on the waterway, a day after Oman and Iran held talks on the strait and agreed to continue discussions. The strait sits in Iran and Oman’s territorial waters.
Oman summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest the strikes, the first such move since the war began, calling Iran’s acts “irresponsible.”
Published – July 13, 2026 05:30 am IST
