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Trump's ‘knock out’ warning to Iran, US bases targeted in the Gulf as war escalates: Top points
Oil prices climbed amid fears of further disruption to global energy supplies even as Trump warned of hitting Iran's power plants and bridges ‘next week’.
The United States stepped up its offensive against Iran overnight, launching a fourth straight round of strikes near the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump also imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
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Tehran responded with attacks on multiple US military facilities across the Gulf. Iran's paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to have hit US airbases, supply centres and plane hangars in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, as per state media.
Oil prices climbed amid fears of further disruption to global energy supplies even as Trump warned of hitting Iran's power plants and bridges ‘next week’.
Top developments of the ongoing war
US launches fresh strikes - US Central Command (CENTCOM) said American fighter jets, drones and naval vessels carried out a seven-hour operation on Iran. They hit dozens of military targets near the Strait of Hormuz and along Iran's coast. The strikes targeted missile and drone sites, naval capabilities and coastal defence systems.
“US forces remain vigilant, lethal, and prepared to execute operations directed by the Commander in Chief,” CENTCOM wrote on X.
Naval blockade resumes - CENTCOM said US forces resumed a naval blockade on vessels travelling to and from Iranian ports. The blockade officially came into effect at 4 pm ET (1:30 am IST on July 15).
Iran says Hormuz will remain closed - Iran's IRGC declared that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed "until the end of America's evils", AP reported. In a statement, they said that the US hit Iranian bases “under the pretext of hitting offending ships”, referring to the vessels attempting to transit the critical waterway, “to hide its defeat and inability”.
The IRGC said that “no ship dared to violate [the Iranian blockade] or accompany the US”. So, “naturally, there were no hits”, the IRGC said.
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Iran claims US 5th Fleet base destroyed in Bahrain - The IRGC claimed it destroyed command centres, naval support facilities, warehouses and fuel tanks at the US Navy's Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, as per Reuters. The claim has not been verified.
Kuwait logistics hub targeted - Iran said it struck the US military's logistics and support centre in Kuwait's Mina Abdullah during the fourth phase of its "Nasr 2" operation, as per AP. There has been no confirmation.
Jordan airbase attacked - Iran's army said explosive drones targeted areas housing US F-18 fighter jets and equipment hangars at Jordan's Azraq airbase as part of the eighth phase of Operation Saeqeh, Al Jazeera reported.
Iraqi militia threatens to join war - Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, an official of Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah said that any new war against Iran would trigger an "immediate and certain" response from the Iraqi resistance.
“If a war is launched against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the participation of the resistance forces will be immediate and certain. This decision is rooted in our ideology and is not open to negotiation,” Abu Mujahid al-Assaf said in a statement quoted by Iran's Fars news agency.
US presses Iraq over militias - US war secretary Pete Hegseth asked Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to disarm Iran-aligned militias. “Iraq must assert its sovereignty and disarm the Iran-aligned militias responsible for 600+ attacks on US personnel this spring,” Hegseth wrote on X.
Fresh sanctions announced - US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said Washington froze more than $130 million in cryptocurrency wallets allegedly linked to Iran's central bank under new sanctions, CNN reported.
Oil prices rise - Brent crude climbed to $86.19 per barrel while WTI rose to $80.40 per barrel after a fourth night of US-Israeli hostilities, Bloomberg reported.
Trump's ‘next week’ threat to Iran - Trump says he will bomb Iran next week. "Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges," Trump told Fox News. “We're going to knock out all their power plants. We're going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate,” he said.
Trump also said that strikes on Iran will continue until “I say it's enough.” “They [Iran] have some fight left but they don't have much.”
3 projectiles hit water bottling plant in Iran - A water-bottling plant in Iran's western Ilam province was hit by three projectiles early Wednesday, according to state news agency IRNA.
The factory, near the village of Musian along the Iran-Iraq border, sustained equipment damage. The area's governor said no one was killed or injured.
