The United States has been bombing Iran every night for nearly two weeks. On July 24, 2026, the US military said it hit military command centers, drone storage sites, communication networks, and coastal monitoring stations. Explosions were reported in several Iranian cities, and only one oil tanker made it through the Strait of Hormuz that day — the fewest since May 7.

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow strip of water between Iran and Oman. It's one of the most important shipping routes in the world because about a fifth of all globally traded oil passes through it.

Iranian state TV reported explosions in several cities, including Khondab, Khorramabad, Konarak, and Jask. Al Jazeera correspondent Tohid Assidi, reporting from Tehran, confirmed explosions on Qeshm island in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Mehr news agency said US missiles hit Andimeshk and Omidiyeh in Khuzestan province, with no reported casualties. In Khorramabad, the semi-official Fars news agency cited the deputy governor of Lorestan province reporting two injured in a drone attack. Tasnim, another semi-official Iranian outlet, reported four killed and five injured in a US missile strike near Ahvaz. Iranian media also reported two injured in attacks on the port city of Bandar Abbas.

The bombing campaign started on July 8, 2026, and has grown in size and intensity since then. US officials told Reuters on July 15 that targets include Iranian air defenses, coastal radar sites, and other military infrastructure. In one earlier round, US forces hit about 140 Iranian military targets using fighter jets and drones. The operation is called Operation Midnight Hammer. It includes strikes on Iran's nuclear sites. Defense officials described the strike on the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant as "historically successful" and "15 years in the making." That strike used 30,000-pound bombs designed to burrow deep underground before exploding. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on July 22 that the war has cost $37.5 billion.

Iran has fought back. The Iranian army, in a statement carried by Mehr, said it used drones to target facilities at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain. It also said it targeted aircraft hangars and other sites at a base in Jordan. On July 22, Iran threatened to strike infrastructure and bridges across the region if US attacks continued. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on X that using frozen Iranian state assets to pay for future claims — a threat President Trump made on Truth Social — sets a dangerous global precedent. Trump told Axios on July 23 he was "considering a massive attack" on Iran that would be "bigger than ever before" and that he was close to a decision.

The economic effects of this war are most visible at sea. Yemen's Houthis — an armed group that controls part of Yemen — announced a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia on July 20. By July 24, shipping data from the London Stock Exchange Group showed two Chinese supertankers carrying Saudi oil had made it through the Bab al-Mandeb strait, another key shipping route. The Houthis have previously made deals with Russia and China to let their ships pass safely. That selective treatment of Chinese vessels contrasts sharply with the near-total shutdown of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

That shutdown has been getting worse for weeks. Reuters reported on July 16 that Hormuz transits were dropping as the US and Iran escalated attacks. By July 13, CNBC quoted Nordic American Tankers' CEO saying the company was not sending any tankers through the strait. As of July 21, no large oil or gas carriers were visible there, according to Reuters and TimesLIVE. A tanker was hit in the strait during the conflict, and Trump has proposed charging a fee for ships to pass through. Traffic had briefly resumed in mid-June, when a few vessels began crossing after an earlier agreement.

Mediators were pushing for a 10-day ceasefire — a temporary pause in fighting, usually negotiated to allow humanitarian aid or diplomacy — as of July 21, according to CNBC. Whether those efforts can survive the current escalation is uncertain, given Trump's signals about a larger attack and Iran's decision to strike US-adjacent facilities in Bahrain and Jordan. The targeting of bases in two additional Gulf states brings new players into a conflict that already spans Iran's nuclear facilities, the Gulf's shipping lanes, and the Red Sea.

The bigger picture is that two of the world's most important shipping routes are disrupted at the same time. The Houthis are letting Chinese ships through one of them while blocking Saudi ships, which looks like a deliberate strategy: rewarding countries that aren't aligned with the US and punishing those that are. If that approach continues, shipping companies may start changing their flags or making their own deals with the Houthis instead of relying on the US Navy for protection.

There's also the question of whether Iran will keep expanding its list of targets to include every Gulf country that hosts US military forces. With the war now in its third week and no end in sight, what started as a fight between two countries is turning into a broader regional conflict pulling in several nations.