War clouds churn over the Gulf: US-Iran strikes enter a dangerous new phase

This ceasefire, which barely held through the entire spring, is no more. On July 7 and 8, the U.S. Central Command carried out more than 80 strikes against Iran’s air-defense systems, coastal radar, missile storage, drone launch sites, and naval assets, after Tehran attacked three commercial oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. At the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, President Trump said the “memorandum of understanding” has “ended,” and warned that “there will be another round tonight,” even suggesting a maritime blockade of Iran’s ports.

Iran responded quickly. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it struck 85 U.S. military targets in Bahrain and Kuwait, and said it shot down an American MQ-9 drone in southern Iran. National media reported that across five provinces, 14 people were killed and 78 were injured, including strikes near the Bushehr nuclear facility and an attack on a railway bridge used for trade with Russia and China. Kuwait confirmed it intercepted cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones, and said people were injured by falling debris.