The U.S. launched strikes on Iran early Tuesday (July 14, 2026) morning, hours after President Donald Trump said Washington is “reinstating” a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. Mr. Trump separately suggested the United States will charge other ships for safe passage, upending hundreds of years of American policy supporting freedom of navigation across the globe.

Also Read: West Asia war updates on July 14

Iran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain, Jordan and two tankers associated with the United Arab Emirates travelling through the strait, killing one mariner and wounding eight others. The Emirates threatened to retaliate against Iran, potentially drawing the nation that is home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai back into fighting with Tehran.

The attacks come as Iran and the U.S. vie for control of the strait through which a fifth of all traded crude oil and natural gas once passed in peacetime. The price of benchmark Brent crude oil rose to a one-month high of over $84 in trading early Tuesday, still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the war but threatening to make costs everywhere higher.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said it struck areas around Abu Musa, Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, Chahbahar, Jask and Konarak, targeting Iranian “coastal defence systems, missile and drone sites and maritime capabilities.” Iran acknowledged strikes around those areas, but provided no immediate casualty or damage assessments.

“These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the U.S. military said. Moments after the military announced the new strikes, Mr. Trump called it “another major attack.”

“We’re hitting them very hard. And it’ll continue, and we’ll see what happens,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “We’re knocking out all of their offensive capability and we’re controlling the straits. We’re putting the blockade back.”

Mr. Trump also provided new details on his suggestion that the U.S. will charge tolls for ships going through the strait, an about-face after previously saying that it wouldn’t.

“We’re protecting a very rich portion of the world,” he said. “We’re spending money. And so, what we’ve done is, we are going to be reimbursed for protection.”

It’s a change in U.S. policy that, until now, said the strait should remain open to all without tolls — as it was before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Any attempt by the U.S. or Iran to charge fees would violate global norms on freedom of navigation and raise tensions, likely causing further economic disruption far beyond the region.

The U.S. Navy has fought for freedom of navigation on the seas since the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. The United Arab Emirates’ Defense Ministry said early on Tuesday (July 14, 2026) that Iran attacked two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, killing one mariner and wounding eight others.

The Emirati Defence Ministry said Iran launched two cruise missiles at the tankers Mombasa and Al Bahiyah. The attacks set both tankers ablaze, though the fires were extinguished.

Iran’s Paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed the attack on the tankers, saying the vessels “ignored repeated warnings.” “They chose to pass through a minefield and were subsequently targeted and disabled,” the Guard said.

Bahrain also came under renewed attack early Tuesday (July 14) morning as Iran retaliated over the latest round of U.S. airstrikes. Bahrain sounded its missile alert sirens three times, urging the public to seek shelter. There was no word on any damage or casualties from the attack.

The Emirati Defence Ministry said the attack on the tankers killed one Indian national and wounded six Indians and two Ukrainians. “The UAE reserves its full right to respond to this escalation and to take all necessary measures to protect its territory, its citizens and residents,” the Defence Ministry added.

The Emirates used similar language before launching attacks against Iran during the war. Fighter jets could be heard overhead Tuesday (July 14) morning in Dubai.

The U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the U.S. Consulate in Dubai alerted Americans early Tuesday (July 14) that consular appointments had been canceled through Wednesday “due to the regional security situation.”

Jordan’s military said it intercepted four missiles from Iran, according to a statement carried by the kingdom’s state-run Petra news agency. Jordan hosts U.S. forces and has come under attack by Tehran in recent days.

Earlier on Monday (July 13), Mr. Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that the agreement reached last month was “built to test” Iran, adding that “when you’re dealing with sleazebags [agreements] don’t mean much.”

“They didn’t honour the test,” the President said. Iran asserts it has the right to manage traffic through the strait and potentially charge fees in accordance with the interim peace deal. The U.S. has disputed that.

The American military and the United Nations’ International Maritime Organisation have tried to establish a route through the strait along the coast of Oman that would be outside of Iranian control. Iran has attacked ships using that route, saying the U.S. is violating the interim peace deal. The U.S. has attacked Iran in response, drawing Iranian attacks on U.S.-allied Arab states.

Exchanges of fire in recent days had already cast further doubt on the interim peace deal. Washington had lifted a blockade it imposed in mid-April as part of that deal, which also called for the strait to be fully reopened.

“We are reinstating the IRANIAN BLOCKADE,” Mr. Trump said on social media. “All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait.”

The President said the U.S. would be “reimbursed” by 20% of the value of cargo to help cover “any costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security.” The U.S. military said it will resume its blockade of Iranian ports at midnight local time on Wednesday (July 14) in Dubai.

Published – July 14, 2026 11:27 am IST

U.S. President Donald Trump vowed fresh attacks against Iran on Thursday (June 11, 2026), saying American forces would also soon seize the country’s key oil infrastructure after the two sides exchanged strikes overnight.

West Asia war: Follow LIVE updates on June 11, 2026

His threat came after Iran warned the shaky ceasefire in their three-month war was “practically meaningless” following the latest strikes by the United States, which saw Tehran respond with attacks around the region.

The war, which began on February 28 with a wave of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, was paused by the April truce, but efforts to hammer out a permanent end to the fighting have stalled and sporadic exchanges of fire have put the ceasefire under repeated strain.

The U.S. military will hit Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT,” Mr. Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday (June 11, 2026).

“At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela,” he added.

In separate comments to Fox News, he said he would “rather not” hit Iranian civilian infrastructure like power plants, as previously threatened, “because once you do that, the people suffer”.

In a second straight day of tit-for-tat attacks, Washington hit surveillance, communications and air defence facilities, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced a “punitive operation” targeting a U.S. base in Jordan and Gulf states reported incoming fire.

Mediators Pakistan and Qatar suggested backchannel efforts to negotiate an end to the war were ongoing in spite of the flare-up, though Islamabad cautioned it was “hard to be an optimist” in light of the escalation.

The strikes took place while a Qatari delegation was in Tehran for talks, with a diplomatic source saying the discussions lasted into the early hours of the morning and were “conducted in coordination with the United States”.

Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly maintained negotiations with Tehran were close to a deal, had said on Wednesday (June 10, 2026) that Iran keeps “playing us for suckers” and will now “have to pay the price”.

Hours after those comments, CENTCOM said U.S. forces began strikes early on Thursday (June 11, 2026) in Iran, later adding it had completed its attacks.

Iranian media reported explosions across the south, with at least three people wounded in Tehran province.

‘Negotiate with bombs’

The renewed hostilities came as Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said that if Mr. Trump required it, “we’ll negotiate with bombs”.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said “the illegal and criminal attacks perpetrated by the United States in recent hours not only constitute a flagrant violation… but also render the ceasefire practically meaningless”.

But a Foreign Ministry spokesman for mediator Pakistan, which hosted an initial round of talks between the warring parties, said it had not “lost hope” in a negotiated resolution.

Still, said Tahir Andrabi, “It is hard to be an optimist in the new exchange of hostilities.”

Turkiye and Saudi Arabia, which also came under Iranian attack during the war, called for de-escalation, with Riyadh “urging all parties to prioritise wisdom” by resuming peace talks.

China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, likewise called for more negotiations on Thursday (June 11, 2026), with a Foreign Ministry spokesperson urging the warring parties “to immediately cease military operations… (and) respond to the mediation efforts”.

Tehran’s ally Russia echoed the sentiment, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying the escalation risked more “negative consequences for the situation in the region and the global economy”.

Majid, a 35-year-old pharmacist in Tehran, said he was “deeply worried” by the attacks and their knock-on effects on daily life for Iranians already facing economic hardship.

“I am absolutely not optimistic about the agreement being finalised, because the gap between the two countries is too wide,” he said, blaming the lack of progress on Israel — which also traded fire with Iran in recent days — as well as hardliners at home.

Hormuz threats

Iran has renewed its warnings over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for oil and gas transport which it has essentially closed since early in the war, roiling global energy markets.

Iran’s new body overseeing the strait on Thursday (June 11, 2026) confirmed it “will be closed until further notice”.

Majid Mousavi, the head of the Iranian Guards’ aerospace force, had promised to “make the region hell” for Tehran’s enemies over their conduct in the waterway.

On Wednesday (June 10, 2026), three Indian sailors on a commercial vessel were killed when the United States attacked the ship off the coast of Oman, New Delhi said Thursday (June 11, 2026), summoning a U.S. diplomat to lodge a protest.

The Iranian navy said it had also hit two ships trying to sail through the strait, state television IRIB and the Mehr agency reported.

On Thursday (June 11, 2026), CENTCOM said it had disabled another tanker, MT Jalveer, for allegedly attempting to evade a U.S. counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

The Indian embassy in Oman said on X that the crew of the ship were being evacuated by the Omani navy, without specifying their nationality.

Published – June 11, 2026 07:34 pm IST

“Iran launched several ballistic missiles toward regional neighbors; however, all failed to hit their intended targets,” CENTCOM said in a statement. File image for representation only.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Smoke billows from southern Lebanon, following Israeli strikes, as seen from Nabatieh, Lebanon, on June 2, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Smoke rises in the Fujairah oil industry zone. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters