Local time on July 7, 2026, the U.S. Central Command announced that it had completed a new round of large-scale military strikes against Iran, striking more than 80 targets, including Iran’s air defense systems, command-and-control networks, coastal radar sites, and more than 60 small fast boats of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The U.S. Treasury simultaneously revoked the previously granted 60-day sanctions exemption for Iranian oil sales. In the early hours of July 8, explosions were reported from multiple locations in southern Iran, including Qeshm Island, Sirik, and Bandar Abbas. Iran’s military responded quickly, announcing that all U.S. military bases in the Middle East are “legitimate targets,” and that retaliatory strikes had been carried out against U.S. bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. The Strait of Hormuz, which carries about one-fifth of global oil transport, has once again become the focus of global capital markets.