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U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he walks from Marine One to a vehicle at the Ellipse near the White House, in Washington, D.C.
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The United States struck Iran Monday (July 13, 2026) for a second day running, drawing Tehran’s reprisals against U.S. allies in the Gulf as the foes battle over the status of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Also Read: West Asia war updates on July 13

The fresh fighting and Iran’s announcement over the weekend of a new closure of Hormuz — a key conduit in the world’s oil trade — sent crude prices climbing on Monday (July 13) and further battered an interim peace deal.

Iran responded to the latest U.S. attacks by targeting Gulf nations, with the powerful Revolutionary Guards announcing new strikes on Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, according to state media reports.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces had completed their latest barrage, which began overnight Sunday (July 12), on dozens of Iranian targets.

U.S. aircraft, naval vessels and drones had “completed a new wave of offensive strikes against Iran, hitting dozens of targets at multiple locations with precision munitions to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking international shipping flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.”

The past week’s hostilities have centred over competing claims over the critical energy trade route, which Iran’s Guards say is now “closed” while the United States maintains the strait is open to maritime traffic and is not controlled by Iran.

Oil prices, which tumbled after the announcement of the June agreement, jumped 4.5% when futures trading opened on Monday (July 13) in Asia, with the U.S. benchmark WTI jumping above $74 a barrel on fears of hampered supply on global markets.

Mediators have been trying to salvage a diplomatic solution to ending the war after President Donald Trump this week declared a ceasefire over.

Pakistan, a key intermediary in negotiations between the rival countries, expressed “deep concern at escalation in regional tensions”, according to its foreign office.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the U.S. attacks on Sunday (July 12) had “caused the return of insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz” and “have rendered futile all efforts” at establishing peace in the region.

Iranian state media reported two deaths in U.S. strikes that it said targeted large areas across southern and western Iran, including Qeshm island and Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz, and in Khuzestan province bordering Iraq.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had struck U.S. military targets and bases in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait, state media reported on Monday (July 13).

Air raid alerts sounded in Bahrain, where the Interior Ministry said, while Kuwait’s army said the country’s forces were intercepting “hostile aerial targets” on Monday (July 13). Jordan’s army said it had intercepted four Iranian missiles.

Back and forth strikes

The renewed fighting followed an Iranian attack early Sunday (July 12) on a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whose crew was forced to abandon it after it went up in flames.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said after the incident that “the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice and until the end of American interventions in this region,” according to state news agency IRNA.

Control of the strategic waterway has become key leverage for Iran, with an adviser to the country’s supreme leader on Sunday (July 12) saying it was more important than “dozens of atomic bombs.”

U.S. CENTCOM countered on X that the strait was “open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transit.” On Sunday (July 12) evening, Iranian state media reported at least 10 “enemy projectiles” hitting Qeshm Island, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz.

It reported further strikes on the island of Farur, to the east of Qeshm in the Gulf, that it said killed a telecommunications worker and wounded two others.

IRNA also reported early on Monday (July 13) morning that U.S. strikes had killed one person and wounded four at a water pumping station in the southwest city of Mahshahr.

Iran’s Guards said they also hit Oman, which has rarely been targeted. Muscat summoned the Iranian ambassador and handed him a formal protest — a rare move for the sultanate, which has been attempting to balance competing demands from Washington and Tehran.

The attack came just hours after the country hosted Iran’s Foreign Minister to discuss the Strait of Hormuz.

Trade of rhetoric

Sunday’s (July 12) attack on a Cyprus-flagged container ship in the waterway left one Indian sailor missing, New Delhi said. Muscat, meanwhile, said it had rescued 23 crew members from a commercial ship.

The crew abandoned ship and transferred to a lifeboat, around 17 kilometres (10 miles) east of Oman, British maritime agency UKMTO reported. Separate Iranian strikes on ships in Hormuz had triggered fighting earlier this week, along with heated rhetoric.

Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has vowed revenge for the killing of his father and predecessor on the first day of the war, and said Iran had compiled a list of individuals to be targeted.

Mr. Trump on Saturday (July 11) said any attempt to assassinate him would lead the United States to “completely decimate” Iran.

Published – July 13, 2026 12:03 pm IST

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. File
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Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei walks off the field after a draw during the World Cup Group G soccer match against New Zealand in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, on June 15, 2026.
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U.S. President Donald Trump. File
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At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 96.19, then fell further to 96.39 against the U.S. dollar, registering a fall of 58 paise from its previous close. Representational image.
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Standing over the dry bed of the Karaj River, all that remains are twisted steel beams, shattered concrete slabs, dust, and silence. What lies here is not the aftermath of an attack. Iranian officials and witnesses describe it as a deliberate and calculated strike — one they say was designed not just to destroy infrastructure, but to break Iran’s industrial and social backbone.

On the night of April 2, 2026, the B1 Bridge in Karaj — the tallest bridge in the Gulf region — was hit during American and Israeli military strikes, according to Iranian authorities. The attack destroyed a key section of the bridge and turned what was once considered a symbol of Iranian engineering into a field of rubble.

In Iran, however, the bridge has quickly become something larger than a construction project. It is now being presented as a symbol of national resistance and self-reliance.

The B1 Bridge, also known as Bilqan 1, connected the Bilqan region of Karaj with Tehran and formed part of one of Iran’s most important transport corridors. Karaj, located west of Tehran, functions as Iran’s largest industrial suburb, filled with factories, logistics hubs, warehouses, and manufacturing centres. Nearly 200,000 vehicles travel daily between Karaj and Tehran, and the bridge had been designed to divert almost one-third of the traffic from heavily congested older routes.

Its strategic importance extended far beyond urban traffic management.

The corridor links Tehran to Qazvin, Tabriz, the Caspian region, and onward trade routes connecting Iran with Russia and Central Asia. Large volumes of industrial goods and commercial cargo pass through this network, making it one of the country’s most critical economic arteries.

Project Engineer of this bridge has also emphasised another aspect of the bridge — that it was built almost entirely with domestic technology and materials. Officials and engineers involved in the project say Iranian steel, Iranian cement, and locally trained engineers were used in the construction despite years of international sanctions and technological restrictions.

The bridge had not yet been formally inaugurated, though traffic had already started moving across it.

According to local accounts, civilians had gathered near the Karaj riverbed on the evening of April 2 when the strikes began. The first missile hit the central span of the bridge, causing a section to collapse and vehicles to fall into the dry riverbed below.

Emergency responders rushed to the scene soon afterward.

Witnesses and Iranian officials state that additional strikes followed after rescue teams arrived. The sequence of attacks has been described by Iranian commentators as a “triple-tap strike,” a military tactic in which an initial strike is followed by subsequent attacks targeting rescuers and emergency personnel arriving at the scene.

Iranian authorities have described the attack as a violation of international humanitarian law, arguing that the bridge was civilian infrastructure rather than a military target. Iranian media also pointed to discussions within the U.S. following congressional hearings involving Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, where concerns were reportedly raised by lawmakers regarding the legality of attacks on rescue operations.

Beyond the destruction itself, Iranian analysts believe the strikes reflected a broader geopolitical strategy aimed at destabilising Iran internally.

The B1 corridor connects Tehran with northern and northwestern regions that have large Azeri populations. Karaj itself has a substantial Azeri community, while cities further northwest such as Tabriz are overwhelmingly Azeri.

Iranian political commentators argue that the destruction of the bridge was intended to isolate Tehran from those regions and create internal pressure or instability along ethnic lines — a strategy they claim resembles approaches previously seen in Syria and Lebanon.

However, Iranian officials insist that such assumptions misread the structure of Iranian society. Ali Khamenei is of Azeri origin, as is President Masoud Pezeshkian. Azeris are deeply integrated into Iran’s political, military, and economic institutions and constitute one of the country’s most influential communities.

Iranian analysts say this social integration prevented the emergence of the kind of ethnic fragmentation that external actors may have expected.

The attacks also intensified debate within Iran over technological independence and industrial self-sufficiency.

In recent years, Tehran has invested heavily in domestic engineering and manufacturing capabilities as sanctions limited access to foreign suppliers and international cooperation. Iranian officials point to projects such as the B1 Bridge as examples of the country’s ability to sustain major infrastructure development independently.

Alongside the bridge strike, Iranian media reports indicate that steel plants, cement facilities, and scientific institutions were also targeted during the broader military campaign. Particular attention has focused on Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, widely regarded as one of West Asia’s leading engineering universities.

Iranian commentators argue that the attacks were aimed not only at physical infrastructure but also at weakening the country’s long-term scientific and technological capacity.

Despite sanctions, Iran continues to produce a large number of engineering graduates annually, and officials frequently portray technical education as central to the country’s economic resilience.

Following the bridge strike, Iran carried out what officials described as a symbolic retaliatory operation near the King Fahd Causeway connecting Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Iranian state-linked media framed the move as a warning that critical infrastructure throughout the Gulf region remains vulnerable.

Inside Iran, the public response to the attack became a major political and symbolic moment.

After statements attributed to U.S. President Donald Trump warning of further destruction of Iranian infrastructure, crowds gathered near bridges and public structures across several cities. In Karaj, thousands reportedly assembled near the damaged B1 Bridge.

The gatherings were widely portrayed in Iranian media as demonstrations of civilian resolve and national unity.

Reconstruction efforts began almost immediately after the strikes. Engineering crews and heavy machinery reportedly arrived at the site within hours, and officials now say the bridge could be rebuilt within six weeks.

At the site today, cranes move continuously above shattered concrete while workers weld new steel structures into place. Iranian authorities say the rebuilt bridge will rely once again on domestic materials, local industry, and Iranian engineers.

— Saurabh Shukla and Saurabh Shahi are senior editors with The Red Mike

Published – May 08, 2026 06:55 pm IST

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The Iranians “not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through the President’s demands”, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said in an interview last week. On Sunday (February 22, 2026), Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s special envoy for West Asia and his chief negotiator with Iran, said the President was “curious” on why Iran had not capitulated under American pressure. Mr. Trump is wondering “why, under this pressure, with the amount of sea power and naval power over there, why haven’t they come to us and said, ‘we profess we don’t want a weapon, so here’s what we’re prepared to do?’” said Mr. Witkoff.

These remarks underscore growing frustration within the Trump administration over its inability to extract significant concessions from Tehran, despite substantial U.S. military build-up near Iran’s shores, including the deployment of two aircraft carrier strike groups.

The U.S. and Iran have held two rounds of talks since tensions escalated in January, but no breakthrough has been achieved. Oman, which is mediating indirect negotiations between the two sides, has confirmed that a third round will take place in Geneva on February 26.

Also Read | Witkoff reiterates U.S. red lines; Pezeshkian signals optimism

Mixed signals

Mr. Trump has repeatedly warned that he could resort to force if Iran fails to reach a deal. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have said Iran is for a “fair and equitable” agreement on its nuclear programme, but have rejected Washington’s coercive tactics. The U.S. has sent mixed signals about its objectives. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this month that the U.S. wanted discussions to cover not just Iran’s nuclear programme, but also its missile programme, its support for non-state actors in West Asia and its “treatment” of its own people. According to Mr. Witkoff, the President has given him and Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law who is also part of the negotiating team, a clear direction that Iran should stop enrichment and agree to transfer its stockpile of highly enriched uranium out of the country.

The Iranians have so far, at least publicly, resisted both sets of demands. They say they are ready to talk about the nuclear programme, but only about the nuclear programme. Even on the nuclear programme, Iran says it would not give up its “right” to peaceful enrichment, and top officials, including Ali Larijani, have resisted calls for transferring its enriched uranium stockpile.

Also Read | U.S. envoy says Trump questioning why Iran has not ‘capitulated’

Last deterrent

“Iran will not be ready to abandon its nuclear programme,” said a security analyst based in Tehran, who did not want to be named. “Even if Iran reaches a deal with the U.S. over its nuclear programme, Israel would still call it a threat. If Iran agrees to surrender its ballistic missiles today to avert war with the U.S., Israel will bomb Iran anyway a few months down the line. So the question Iranians ask themselves is why should they give up their last deterrent?” he said.

In 2015, Iran agreed to place limits on its nuclear programme and open its facilities for inspection as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Iran remained in compliance with the agreement until Donald Trump, in his first term as President, unilaterally withdrew the U.S. out of it in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. In 2020, the U.S. assassinated Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force and one of the most prominent military figures in the Islamic Republic. In 2025, Iran was technically in talks with the U.S. over its nuclear programme when Israel bombed the country on June 13. A few days later, the U.S. joined Israel’s war and struck Iran’s nuclear facilities. Mr. Trump then claimed that the U.S. attacks had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme.

“These back-to-back setbacks to the diplomatic option seems to have convinced the leader that diplomacy doesn’t work,” a Tehran-based diplomat told The Hindu, referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “ There is some tension within the system, though the state is holding firm, for now. Reformists (led by President Pezeshkian and Mr. Aragchi) still believes a deal could be possible if it averts war and the U.S. agrees to lift at least some sanctions. The Iranians might be open to making concessions on enrichment and enriched uranium. But it also depends on what the White House has to offer. The hardliners are watching when the talks are unfolding.”

Also Read | President Donald Trump denies top U.S. officer warned of Iran strike risks

Iran’s leverage

A war, by most accounts, would be disastrous for Iran, which is already grappling with internal strain amid a deepening economic crisis. The U.S. wields overwhelming firepower, with dozens of fighter jets and warships deployed to the region. Yet, Iran has its own leverage. It possesses thousands of ballistic missiles capable of striking American bases and assets across the region, as well as Israel. Iran could also disrupt or block cargo traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical international maritime chokepoint.

In his second term, Mr. Trump has attacked several countries, but he was also shown caution about getting entangled in a long-drawn conflicts. There is no guarantee he could swiftly conclude a war with Iran, particularly as Tehran has repeatedly vowed to retaliate forcefully against any attack. Nor can Washington sustain en elevated troop presence in West Asia indefinitely, particularly as the U.S. is preparing to hold midterm elections later this year.

“Iran wants to avoid war, but not at any cost,” said the Tehran-based security analyst. “If the U.S. is pursuing gunboat diplomacy through a military build-up along with talks, Iran is responding in kind —talking while preparing for war.”

Published – February 24, 2026 06:20 pm IST