U.S. and Iranian military forces traded a second wave of heavy strikes on Thursday, escalating the broader regional war following the sudden collapse of a 14-point interim ceasefire. U.S. Central Command confirmed hitting 90 Iranian military targets, while Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired retaliatory drones and missiles at American military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.
The renewed hostilities were triggered by an Iranian attack on three commercial cargo vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. Speaking from a NATO summit in Ankara, President Donald Trump declared the agreement over, canceling the diplomatic truce established on June 17.
The U.S. bombing campaign targeted critical infrastructure across Iran, including an IRGC Aerospace Force facility in Bushehr, Iranshahr Airport, Chabahar’s port infrastructure, and various coastal missile defense systems. The strikes prompted immediate retaliatory actions, with Iranian munitions targeting Camp Arifjan and Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, alongside Naval Support Activity Bahrain in Juffair and Sheikh Isa Air Base. Air raid sirens sounded across Kuwait as local defense forces intercepted incoming mid-air threats.
The immediate fallout reached global oil markets as the U.S. Treasury Department officially revoked Iran’s temporary sanctions waiver, canceling the specific license that permitted Tehran to produce and sell crude oil through August 21. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stated the Strait of Hormuz will now only reopen under unilateral Iranian arrangements. In Washington, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders condemned the military action, criticizing the administration for restarting the war.