U.S. Central Command struck dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets across Iran overnight on July 29–30, 2026, hitting military command centres, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defence sites, and maritime capabilities, according to a CENTCOM statement. The Pentagon did not disclose exact locations or specific units targeted.

The strikes came in direct response to an IRGC ballistic missile attack on a U.S. base in Jordan on July 29. CENTCOM stated that on July 28, IRGC forces launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempted surprise attack on U.S. forces in the Middle East. President Donald Trump said at the White House that Iran will be "hit very hard" following the attack on the Jordan base. The IRGC said on July 30 it would hit back against the "aggressor."

The scale of the latest bombardment was notable: the Jerusalem Post reported, citing a source, that the U.S. strikes were roughly twice the size of the previous bombardment. Explosions were confirmed across a wide swathe of Iranian territory. Press TV reported blasts in several locations in southern Iran. In Hormozgan province, two explosions were heard in the port city of Bandar Abbas, with similar sounds reported on the islands of Abu Musa, Kish, and Qeshm, per Tasnim. Three explosions were heard on Qeshm island inside the city, and Tasnim reported residents saying a missile struck a residential area, killing a couple and their child. Two people were trapped under rubble after a U.S. strike on a residential building in Qeshm's Chah-Tango neighbourhood; IRIB quoted the deputy governor of Hormozgan saying the building was "hit by enemy projectiles" and that search and rescue operations were underway.

On Kish island, two loud explosions followed a missile strike, but Tasnim reported that airport and passenger ferry operations remained unaffected. A senior Hormozgan official said there were no attacks on the city of Sirik, per the same outlet.

Farther inland, U.S. forces struck the southwestern Fars province, targeting an area on the outskirts of Kazerun, according to Tasnim. In Bushehr province, home to Iran's only nuclear power plant, IRIB reported explosions and said the U.S. military targeted three cities overnight, with no casualties reported. In Khuzestan province, IRIB quoted a deputy security minister saying U.S. forces targeted "some locations in Abadan." At least seven locations in Ahvaz city were hit, according to IRIB, and Tasnim reported power outages in parts of the city.

The regional fallout extended beyond Iran's borders. Kuwait and Jordan were targeted in suspected Iranian strikes on the morning of July 30. In Kuwait, a building belonging to a Chinese company was struck, killing one worker. Egypt was also targeted in a drone strike the same day.

The IRGC separately declared RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England, a "legitimate target" after U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers used the British base to launch bombing missions against Iranian military targets, according to a photo caption dated July 25 in the Al Jazeera report.

The July 29–30 strikes form part of Operation "Epic Fury," the U.S. military's sustained campaign against Iranian military infrastructure. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated on July 24 that the operation's goals are "laser-focused." CENTCOM had announced on July 23 that it had completed its 13th consecutive night of precision strikes against Iranian military targets. Earlier in July, CENTCOM reported striking approximately 90 Iranian military targets during operations on July 7–8, and over 80 targets in a separate round of retaliatory strikes on July 7. The White House, in Statements of Administration Policy on S.J.Res. 180 and H. Con. Res. 89, confirmed that strikes commencing July 7 targeted missile launch sites and air defences within Iran.

The campaign's origins trace to a earlier phase of strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure. The Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant was struck using 30,000-pound GBU-57 "massive ordnance penetrator" bombs, a strike the Department of Defense described as "historically successful" and "15 years in the making." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine lauded the success of CENTCOM's strike on three Iranian nuclear sites. The White House has framed the broader confrontation in terms of Iran's "decades of terrorism against American citizens," asserting that Iran and its proxies conducted more than 180 attacks against U.S. forces in the Middle East, wounding more than 180 service members.

The trajectory is now one of mutual escalation with no announced off-ramp. The IRGC's pledge to retaliate has already manifested in strikes against Kuwait, Jordan, and Egypt, drawing in states that were not direct parties to the U.S.-Iran exchange. The declaration of RAF Fairford as a "legitimate target" extends the threat to European infrastructure. With CENTCOM in its third week of continuous strikes and the IRGC actively targeting neighboring states, the conflict's geographic and diplomatic scope is widening rather than contracting. Whether any channel exists for de-escalation is not publicly evident.