The US launched more strikes on Iran less than 24 hoursafter president Donald Trump threatened to “decimate and destroy” the country in the event of his assassination, inviting retaliatory attacks on its facilities across the Gulf
“Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay,” defense secretary Pete Hegseth said on Saturday night after Centcom confirmed that its forces had conducted strikes in response to an alleged Iranian attack on a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz
The attack came just hours after supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed revenge for the death of his father and predecessor at the start of the war
In the first statement since the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader said that revenge for his father’s assassination on February 28 “will most certainly be carried out”
The latest round of fighting saw the US military hit 140 Iranian targets, Centcom said, adding that they included missile and drone sites, communication networks, and coastal surveillance locations
Tehran said it conducted retaliatory attacks on US aircraft carrier support and refuelling platforms at Duqm port in Oman as well as military facilities linked to the US across the Gulf
Photos: US says it struck Iranian military targets
Stuti Mishra12 July 2026 08:15
3 people, including 1 child, injured, Qatar says
Three people, including one child, has been injured from falling debris from interception operations, Qatar’s ministry of interior has said
The injured are receiving medical care, it added
The statement, posted on X, does not mention where debris fell
Stuti Mishra12 July 2026 07:45
What has happened so far in the latest round of escalation between the US and Iran
- The US military struck around 140 targets in Iran early on Sunday after an Iranian attack set a Cyprus-flagged container ship ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz, forcing its crew to abandon the vessel. A civilian crew member is missing. The strikes hit missile and drone launch sites, ammunition dumps and communication equipment across southern Iranian provinces including Bushehr, Hormozgan, Khuzestan and Sistan and Baluchestan, as well as Lorestan in the west.
- Iran responded by launching missile and drone attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Qatar’s military said it intercepted the incoming fire. Missile alerts sounded in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, while Kuwait said it was intercepting fire. The UAE warned the public of an incoming attack.
- Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said multiple vessels had disregarded warnings in the strait and that one was struck by a “warning shot.” Tehran said the strait would remain closed “until further notice” and threatened to target “additional enemy bases in the region” if it faced more strikes.
- The latest round of violence came after US president Donald Trump suggested an interim deal was “over”. Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed in a statement on state television that Iranians would avenge the killing of his father in the war’s opening strikes on 28 February.
Stuti Mishra12 July 2026 07:15
Kuwait’s Armed Forces intercepting attacks, army says
Kuwaiti military is currently “confronting hostile aerial targets within Kuwaiti airspace”, the state media reported, quoting its armed forces a while ago
Army officials said “any sounds of explosions are the result of air defence systems intercepting hostile attacks” and urged the public to follow instructions issued by the relevant authorities in a post on X
The military did not specify where the attacks originated from
Stuti Mishra12 July 2026 06:50
US says it struck 140 Iranian military targets
US forces completed a third round of strikes this week against Iran, the Central Command said in a post on X
They hit approximately 140 Iranian military targets yesterday, the Central Command said, and added that targets included Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, ammunition storage facilities, communication networks, and coastal surveillance locations
Stuti Mishra12 July 2026 06:30
The era of one-sided deals is over, says Iran’s chief negotiator|
Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf just wrote on X: “The era of one-sided deals is OVER.”
“We told you: keep your word or pay the price,” he wrote. “Reality is knocking.”
The post was accompanied by an image of Article 5 of the MoU, which concerns the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, with the words “the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements” highlighted
Stuti Mishra12 July 2026 06:10
Iran’s IRGC says second vessel hit in Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps just said it struck and disabled a second vessel in the Strait of Hormuz and targeted the US strategic air base at Al Udeid in Qatar with ballistic missiles, destroying its fighter jet maintenance center and command and control facility
Stuti Mishra12 July 2026 05:50
UAE warns people of incoming missile and drone attack as explosions heard in Qatar
The United Arab Emirates warned the public this morning of an incoming missile and drone attack as explosions could be heard in nearby Qatar, the Associated Press reported
It wasn’t immediately clear where in the UAE was under attack, which so far hadn’t been targeted in the latest round of attacks by Iran
An AP journalist heard the blasts in nearby Qatar this morning, the outlet reported. There was no immediate information about what caused them
Meanwhile, missile alerts sounded in Bahrain, an island kingdom in the Persian Gulf home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet
Stuti Mishra12 July 2026 05:30
UKMTO says crew abandon container ship near Oman after fire onboard
The crew of a container ship abandoned their vessel after military authorities reported it had sustained damage to its rear near Oman, causing a fire onboard, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said today
The UKMTO earlier said it had received a report of an incident nine nautical miles (16.7 km) east of Oman. In an updated advisory, the agency said it had been informed by military authorities and the vessel’s security officer that the crew had abandoned the vessel and were currently in a lifeboat, adding that authorities were continuing to investigate
On Sunday, the US military launched a new round of strikes against Iran after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces attacked a Cyprus-flagged container ship transiting through the Strait of Hormuz
“A civilian crew member is missing, and the vessel is unable to continue the journey due to an onboard fire and significant engine room damage,” the US Central Command said in a statement on X
Iran’s IRGC navy said earlier today that it had struck and halted a vessel that had “jeopardised maritime security by switching off its systems” after it, along with other vessels, attempted to transit through an unauthorised route despite warnings to correct its course
Stuti Mishra12 July 2026 05:10
ICYMI: US military says it is striking Iran in response to attack on civilian vessel in Strait of Hormuz
Iran said the Strait of Hormuz was closed once again after a warning shot fired by its military struck a vessel using an unauthorised route in the critical waterway, further jeopardising the already tenuous ceasefire agreement with the United States
US Central Command said a short time later that its forces began a third round of strikes against Iran. There were explosions in Bandar Abbas and Sirik, two towns along the shores of the strait, Iran state media reported
“The United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait,” the American military said
A Cyprus-flagged container ship was hit by Iran and suffered “significant engineroom damage” and a civilian crew member is missing, US Central Command said
Senior US officials had previously said in Washington that negotiations to further cement last month’s deal to end the war will be unable to progress without the strait being secure — and even said they wanted Iran to offer public statements to that effect
Instead, the Revolutionary Guards Corps said multiple vessels “disregarded our warnings and instructions to correct their course and proceed along the approved route.” One of them “was struck by a warning shot and brought to a stop.”
Iran said that the strait would remain closed “until further notice” and said it would consider targeting “additional enemy bases in the region” if it faced more attacks
A little more than an hour later, the US announced its own new round of strikes
“Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay,” US defence secretary Pete Hegseth posted on social media
The latest flurry of shots from both sides followed Iran and Oman’s foreign ministers meeting yesterday to discuss the strait that lies between them, after days of Iranian attacks on ships and US retaliation that dealt a blow to the interim deal to end the war.a
Stuti Mishra12 July 2026 04:50
