US strikes and Iranian retaliation shatter fragile truce as death toll climbs across region

President Donald Trump signaled the conflict could intensify further, writing on social media that any repeat Iranian strikes on shipping would draw a far harsher response.

Renewed fighting between the United States and Iran shattered a fragile truce this week, as fresh American air strikes killed at least 14 people inside Iran and triggered Iranian retaliatory attacks against Gulf states hosting US forces.

Iran’s Health Ministry reported that American strikes across five provinces on July 8 and July 9 killed 14 people and wounded 78 others. Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesperson for the ministry, said 47 of the wounded remained hospitalized while the rest had been treated and released. Officials in Khuzestan province confirmed that three people died in a strike near the city of Ahvaz. Iranian state media also reported that a firefighter died in a strike on the airport in Iranshahr, and that a US attack struck a railway bridge near the town of Aqqala in the north.

The United States Central Command said its forces launched the new round of strikes to keep the Strait of Hormuz open after Iranian forces allegedly struck three cargo ships transiting the waterway on Tuesday. The command said Washington intended to hold Tehran accountable for what it called unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews. Strikes hit port and coastal facilities from the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman, including Bandar Abbas, home to Iran’s largest port, along with the neighboring cities of Konarak and Chabahar. Power outages briefly hit parts of Chabahar, and a maritime traffic control tower there sustained damage.

Iran answered with a second consecutive day of attacks on Gulf states hosting American forces. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said its forces fired ten ballistic missiles at a US command and control center in the region and at the Al Azraq air base in Jordan, claiming both facilities suffered destruction. The Guard warned that further American strikes would draw expanded retaliation against other US bases nearby. Jordan’s armed forces said air defenses intercepted eight of the missiles and reported no casualties.

Iran’s military also said it carried out drone strikes against American positions in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, hitting a Patriot missile system in Kuwait, an early warning satellite site in Qatar and fuel tanks used by US forces in Bahrain. Bahrain’s Defense Force said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed several of the incoming threats. Manama activated air raid sirens three times during the day, and residents reported hearing explosions in the capital as authorities urged calm.

The renewed hostilities pushed oil prices higher, with Brent crude climbing roughly one percent to trade near 78 dollars and 80 cents a barrel, though prices stayed well below the peak above 120 dollars reached in late April. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed sharply, with tracking data showing only 14 cargo vessels crossing the waterway in both directions, compared with an average of 34 ships daily in the three weeks following the June 16 memorandum between Washington and Tehran. The head of the International Maritime Organization, Arsenio Dominguez, said roughly 6,000 seafarers remained trapped near the strait and said no worker should face danger simply for doing their job.

President Donald Trump signaled the conflict could intensify further, writing on social media that any repeat Iranian strikes on shipping would draw a far harsher response. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One after a NATO summit in Turkey, Trump said American forces had struck Iran twenty times harder than Iran had struck back. He also told reporters he considered the interim memorandum with Iran finished and said he no longer wished to negotiate with Tehran’s leadership.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected Washington’s justification for the strikes, telling state media that American officials’ own admissions of ignoring the memorandum reflected Washington’s continued pursuit of war. Iran’s Foreign Ministry separately condemned the strikes on civilian infrastructure, including two railway bridges along the route to Mashhad, calling them a clear violation of the United Nations Charter and the ceasefire memorandum. Iran’s mission to the United Nations sent a letter to the Security Council accusing Washington of breaching its charter obligations.

Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned that Tehran would not accept continued pressure without response, writing online that any strike against Iran would draw a strike in return. He said the Strait of Hormuz would reopen only according to arrangements set by Iran, not through American threats.

The diplomatic fallout extended beyond the two main combatants. Iran summoned Britain’s ambassador in Tehran to protest what it called baseless accusations from London regarding alleged Iranian security activities inside the United Kingdom. France’s Foreign Minister Jean Noel Barrot placed blame for the renewed strikes on Iran, saying Tehran violated its own commitments by targeting ships in Omani waters. Qatar’s prime minister voiced support for de-escalation during a call with Araghchi and condemned attacks on commercial vessels in the strait. Iran’s Foreign Ministry also criticized NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte after he called the latest US strikes necessary, accusing European governments of enabling the campaign through logistical support.

Despite the sharp rise in hostilities, Trump said he did not expect the conflict to escalate into full scale war, telling reporters that recent events would resolve quickly and ultimately improve safety, including for global oil markets.