President Donald Trump announced “major combat operations” against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.
Delegations from the U.S. and Iran entered negotiations in June aimed at a war-ending deal based on a memorandum of understanding signed by both countries.
The U.S. and Iran have nonetheless continued to exchange relatively limited strikes despite the signing of the memorandum and amid the continuation of peace talks, with the strategic Strait of Hormuz the primary flashpoint.
More than 30 people have been killed in “recent” attacks on Iran’s southern regions, Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said in a social media post Wednesday morning, without elaborating.
Iranian Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said in a separate social media post earlier Wednesday that more than 260 people have been wounded across the country in the latest wave of attacks, without specifying how many people had been killed.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
In a post on X, U.S. Central Command said it began launching “a wave of strikes” against Iran at around 6 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
“The strikes are designed to further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the post said.
-ABC News’ Lauren Minore
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed to have targeted U.S. military bases and assets in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan in strikes launched in the early hours of Wednesday.
Bahrain reported that its alarm sirens were activated, while Kuwait said its air defenses intercepted six missiles and 33 drones. Jordan said its air defenses intercepted and shot down three Iranian missiles.
-/SEPAHNEWS.COM/AFP via Getty Imag – PHOTO: This screen grab taken on July 15, 2026, from video footage released by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Sepah News website on July 14, 2026, allegedly shows missiles being launched from an undisclosed location towards Bahrain and Kuwait.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor and Guy Davies
The Jordan News Agency reported that the country’s military intercepted three ballistic missiles that entered national airspace from Iranian territory in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The military reported no damage or casualties, the agency said, citing a source in the armed forces’ General Command.
U.S. forces completed another round of strikes against Iran, U.S. Central Command said in a statement late Tuesday night.
The statement says the U.S. hit “dozens of military targets near the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian coastal areas” during what it described as a “seven-hour wave” of attacks “to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews.”
The strikes took place the same day the U.S. reimposed a naval blockade against vessel traveling to or from Iranian ports, CENTCOM said.
CENTCOM – PHOTO: A still photo from video footage released July 14, 2026, shows U.S. Central Command forces striking targets across Iran.
In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said U.S. strikes on Iran will continue until he says “it’s enough,” threatening to bomb Iran’s bridges and power plants as soon as “next week.” The president also did not rule out the possibility of a ground campaign in Iran.
During the interview, Trump delivered mixed messages over the state of negotiations with Iran, saying “I don’t want to negotiate,” while also saying the strikes will continue “unless” Iran negotiates. Trump also claimed that U.S. negotiators had communicated with Iran earlier this afternoon and demanded they make a deal.
Regarding U.S. strikes and what’s next for the war, Trump said: “They’ll continue until I say it’s enough … You know the word the military likes to use is degrade. They’ve been degraded to a very low level,” Trump said.
When Trump was asked if his objectives could be completed in an air campaign alone, he claimed his objectives were already “completed.”
But moments later, Trump notably did not rule out a ground campaign.
Fox News’ Trey Yingst asked: “Are you ruling out a ground campaign in a limited capacity?”
Trump replied: “Well– I don’t want to say that either. But I would say no — if I, if I thought it was appropriate. Sometimes you need a ground campaign, but we have other people that will do the ground campaign for us.”
Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, said Iran attacked seven commercial ships over the past week.
In a statement posted on social media, Cooper said the attacks resulted in nearly a dozen civilian crew members killed, injured or missing.
“Iranian forces have also launched dozens of missiles and drones toward neighboring Gulf countries,” Cooper said in the statement. “U.S. forces are holding Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression that continues to endanger innocent lives.”
The U.S. has launched several rounds of retaliatory strikes in response to the Iranian attacks, U.S. officials have said.
The Trump administration is increasing financial pressures on Iran by slapping new sanctions on an Iranian oil tycoon and more than 50 other people, ships and companies linked to him on Tuesday.
The new sanctions hit “more than 50 individuals, entities, and vessels that enable Shamkhani and the Iranian regime to continue profiting,” according to the Treasury Department.
“The Iranian regime survives on deception, and the Shamkhani network is one of its most profitable engines. Treasury is shutting down the financial infrastructure that allows the regime to continue its threats to U.S. national security and global shipping,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a press release Tuesday.
As the U.S. blockade on Iranian shipping action is back in effect, the action targets at least eight oil tankers that Treasury said are linked to Iranian oil businesses.
The action also targets individuals and firms that the government says supports financial services that allow Iranian agencies to evade sanctions.
U.S. forces have resumed a naval blockade of vessels traveling to and from Iranian ports, U.S. Central Command announced. The blockade went back into effect at 4 p.m.
A U.S. official confirmed that U.S. forces are currently conducting airstrikes in Iran.
The official said the airstrikes had been underway for the last couple of hours.
At 3 p.m. ET today, U.S. Central Command forces began launching an additional round of strikes against Iran to continue degrading Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
The strikes are taking place as American forces prepare to resume the naval blockade against Iranian ports and coastal areas. The blockade goes into effect at 4 p.m. ET.
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