The tension between the United States and Iran deepened overnight with more American air strikes targeting across Iran as well as the US tightening its naval blockade around Iranian ports.
According to reports, explosions were heard in several parts of Iran, including Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Chabahar, Konarak, Rask City, Khondab and the western city of Khorramabad. Explosions were also heard in Ahvaz, near Bushehr, the only civilian nuclear power plant in Iran, Iranian state media also reported.
Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported that one of the American strikes damaged the Shahid Baghaei Hospital in Ahvaz, including its child cancer treatment department. The hospital, which provides chemotherapy treatment for children and other cancer patients, was evacuated after the attack, officials said.
Iranian officials also claimed that another US strike hit an army barracks, killing at least seven soldiers. Tehran said the overall death toll from recent U.S. strikes has risen to 35, while more than 300 people have been injured in the country.
Meanwhile, Iran activated air defence systems in Tehran and other areas; it said they were responding to what it described as “hostile threats.”
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said its latest operations were aimed at degrading Iranian military capabilities that could threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important maritime routes for global energy supplies.
CENTCOM also announced that one of its aircraft intercepted an empty oil tanker attempting to breach the naval blockade of Iranian ports. Hellfire missiles were fired into the ship’s smokestack, the military said, disabling it without sinking the ship. The Curacao-flagged M/T Belma was prevented from continuing toward Iran, the military said.
Iran responded with more military activity around the region. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it launched attacks on the US Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain. Bahrain authorities activated air raid sirens after projectiles were intercepted over civilian areas.
Jordan's armed forces also confirmed intercepting three missiles launched from Iran, preventing them from entering populated areas.
The IRGC also said it had shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the southwestern town of Andimeshk under the newly deployed air defence system operated by its aerospace division.
Elsewhere in the region, Kurdish security forces in Iraq said the US-led coalition intercepted and destroyed eight explosive-laden drones over Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region. Residents reported hearing multiple explosions near the US consulate but no casualties.
But diplomatic efforts have not completely collapsed. President Donald Trump said Iran appeared to be interested in reaching a peace agreement at the US Army War College in Pennsylvania.
“They don’t like what we’re doing, and they do want to settle,” Trump said, and soon Washington would know if negotiations would succeed or if military operations would continue.
But Trump later took a tougher tone in an interview with Fox News, warning that if Tehran would not return to meaningful negotiations, the United States could expand its military campaign to attack Iranian power plants and bridges.
Iran also said talks were uncertain. Senior negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said any memorandum of understanding would only be valid in the absence of all parties fulfilling their obligations and Tehran would have little reason to keep going if it received no tangible benefits.
In a seemingly positive shift, Trump announced that Iran had released an American citizen detained since 2024, calling it a “gesture of goodwill.” Human rights lawyer Jared Genser later identified the released individual as Dena Karari, a US-Iranian citizen and nonprofit leader who had been charged with spying in Iran.
The latest clash has only served to deepen tension in the Middle East after the recent exchanges of strikes. The violence has generated a lot of tension in the Middle East; diplomatic channels are still open but the latest exchange of strikes has been felt across the Middle East and the attacks have raised tensions across the region. The attacks being waged across a wide range of countries and the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz still the epicenter of the conflict, world leaders are still monitoring closely in the face of growing fears of a wider regional conflict.
