The United States launched its third consecutive night of strikes on Iranian military targets Monday, hours after President Donald Trump announced a renewed naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and declared the US the waterway’s “guardian.”
CENTCOM said its forces hit dozens of sites, including air defense systems, radar installations, missile and drone equipment, and small boats. It was the heaviest round yet in a campaign of strikes that began over the weekend after a fragile ceasefire collapsed.
“We bombed the hell out of them last night,” Trump told NBC’s Meet the Press.
Iran retaliated by attacking countries across the region that host US forces. Strikes hit targets in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and Oman. Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest, briefly suspended operations after a drone struck a fuel tank. Bahrain’s military accused Iran of deliberately targeting civilians.
“The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade,” CENTCOM said in a statement. “Iran does not control it.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard sharply rejected that. “The era of one-sided deals is OVER,” said Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament and a main negotiator. “We told you: keep your word or pay the price.”
Trump’s blockade announcement marked a significant escalation. Writing on Truth Social, he declared the US would become “THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT” and impose a 20% fee on all cargo shipped through the waterway. “The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran,” he wrote.
The policy reversal was striking: the US had previously opposed any fees on Hormuz transits, and Trump had just days earlier suggested the interim deal was “over.” Now Washington is doing what it accused Iran of planning, demanding payment for passage through international waters.
The United Nations warned of catastrophe. “A return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences,” Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement.
Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, issued his first statement since his father’s funeral on Saturday, vowing that Iranians would avenge the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The funeral processions drew millions, and Iranian officials have warned of heightened security risks as the country mourns.
The question now is whether the strikes and blockade will break Iran’s chokehold on the strait or simply restart a full-scale war that neither side can afford.