The United States launched a second wave of strikes against Iran on Wednesday, targeting military positions in the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps warned it would close “other oil and gas export routes” in retaliation.
President Donald Trump told reporters that Iran “better behave” and refused to rule out further escalation. It was his sixth consecutive night of attacks since the July deal between the two countries collapsed.
“I don’t like giving deadlines, but they pretty much know, they know the story,” Trump said. “They better behave.”
The strikes hit “Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels” in the Strait of Hormuz, according to US Central Command. An earlier 90-minute wave on Tuesday had targeted coastal defenses and cruise missile launch sites on Greater Tunb Island. Separately, US forces fired on a ship attempting to violate the renewed naval blockade of Iran’s ports — a blockade that had been lifted as part of last month’s agreement but was reimposed Tuesday evening.
Iran’s response was immediate and escalatory. The IRGC warned Washington to “expect the closure of other oil and gas export routes that serve the interests of the United States and its allies.” Iranian state media claimed the army had struck US targets in Bahrain and Kuwait — claims the US has not confirmed.
Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the preliminary deal reached last month was effectively dead.
“We have no reason to abide by the deal if it does not benefit from it,” Ghalibaf said. He called the conflict with the United States “existential” and said both negotiation and war were tools in Iran’s resistance strategy.
The Houthis in Yemen, who take orders from Tehran, have reportedly completed preparations to close the Bab el-Mandeb strait — a second chokepoint for global oil shipping. Iran instructed them to do so if the US attacks civilian infrastructure, according to Reuters.
Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most important oil chokepoint. Roughly 20% of all petroleum consumed globally passes through it. Tanker traffic has already slowed to a near-standstill as shipping companies calculate the risk of sailing into a war zone. Oil prices have surged.
What collapsed the July deal was not a single event but a mutual refusal to compromise on the Strait. The preliminary memorandum of understanding had paused hostilities, but the two sides never agreed on how to manage the waterway. Trump wanted a 20% toll on Iranian oil revenue passing through. When that failed, he replaced it with demands for “massive” trade and investment deals with Gulf states and a permanent US naval presence. Iran refused.
Negotiations broke down. The blockade returned. The strikes resumed.
Trump has threatened to hit Iran’s civilian infrastructure — bridges and power plants — if Tehran does not return to talks next week. “They want to settle so badly,” he said at the defense summit. “They don’t like what we’re doing. We’ll find out whether we want to settle with them or if we just finish it off.”
The UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, has warned that deliberately attacking civilian infrastructure is a war crime under international law. Trump appears unbothered by that argument.
Iran, meanwhile, is gambling that it can make the economic pain of a closed Strait of Hormuz unbearable for the US and its allies. The IRGC’s threat to close “other” routes suggests a strategy of multiplying the chokepoints — hitting not just Hormuz but the Bab el-Mandeb, or pipelines running through Iraq and Turkey. Each closure would drive oil prices higher and put more pressure on Washington.
Neither side looks ready to back down. The United States has the military advantage — more firepower, more strike options, more bases in the region. Iran has geography. The Strait of Hormuz is narrow enough to mine, small enough to cover with missile batteries, and indispensable enough to make its disruption an effective weapon.
What was supposed to be a negotiated end to the US-Iran confrontation has turned into something else entirely. The deal is not just broken. It was never strong enough to hold. And now the fighting is worse than before the talks started.