The US military resumed airstrikes against Iran on July 30, 2026, ending a five-day pause in fighting. The strikes came after Iran fired missiles at American military bases in Jordan, which was Iran's first attack since the brief halt in hostilities began. US forces worked with Saudi Arabia to strike Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq, killing at least 20 fighters and six Iranian advisers CENTCOM.

Speaking from the Oval Office on Wednesday, President Donald Trump signaled an escalation. "We're going to be hitting them very hard, because it's our turn to hit them. They know it's coming," Trump stated The Guardian. The US military described the July 30 attacks as a direct response to Iran's attempts to strike US forces in the Middle East the previous day. The US and Iran have been in active conflict for about five months.

Iranian news agency Tasnim reported three explosions on Qeshm island near the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which about a fifth of the world's oil supply passes. Qeshm island serves as a key storage site for Iranian attack boats, drones, sea mines, and other equipment used to disrupt shipping through this vital route The Guardian. CENTCOM, the US military command responsible for the Middle East, had previously stated that American forces resumed a naval blockade against Iran as part of operations targeting dozens of Iranian military sites on land CENTCOM.

The violence has spread beyond the US and Iran. Drone strikes set fires on two natural gas vessels at the Egyptian port of Damietta, according to British maritime security firm Ambrey. The vessels were a US-owned storage facility and a Greek-owned tanker. No injuries were reported. When asked during an Oval Office event if Iran was responsible for the Damietta port strikes, Trump responded, "It's a little more of the same."

The renewed fighting shatters a fragile agreement reached just days earlier. The Pentagon suspended the US airstrike campaign on Iran late on Friday, July 25, 2026, after 13 consecutive nights of strikes. An Iranian source indicated that Iran would stop its attacks as long as the United States maintained its bombing pause Reuters. Mediators had expressed optimism about bringing the US and Iran back to the negotiating table after an earlier interim agreement collapsed amid renewed fighting over the Strait of Hormuz.

The diplomatic timeline leading into the July 30 strikes was further complicated by regional actors. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had just departed his first meeting with Trump since the two nations launched the war The Guardian.

The July 30 strikes fit into a sustained pattern of back-and-forth attacks. From February through April 2026, Iran-aligned militias conducted more than 600 attempted attacks on US citizens and facilities, according to CENTCOM. Prior to the July 25 pause, US forces had completed 13 consecutive nights of strikes, hitting approximately 90 targets. The campaign, named Operation Epic Fury, began in earnest in July after initial strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities earlier in the summer.

The background of the conflict goes back to the initial US strikes on Iran's nuclear program. In June 2025, the US used 30,000-pound specialized bombs called Massive Ordnance Penetrators — weapons designed to smash through thick concrete and reach deeply buried targets — against Iran's Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant. The Department of Defense described the operation as historically successful and 15 years in the making. The White House maintained at the time that Iran's nuclear facilities had been obliterated. However, fighting resumed in June 2026 following an Army helicopter crash near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran retaliated against Gulf states, including Bahrain and Kuwait, after the initial US strikes.

The broader context here is that the quick collapse of the July 25 pause suggests the underlying causes of the conflict remain unresolved. The interim agreement and the brief bombing halt appear to have been tactical pauses to catch a breath rather than genuine steps toward peace. With Iran carrying out attacks in Jordan and Egypt, and the US coordinating strikes with Saudi Arabia inside Iraq, the conflict keeps spreading to new areas. The targeting of Qeshm island shows the US remains focused on neutralizing Iran's ability to block ships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a route critical to the world's energy supply. The resumption of heavy strikes, paired with Trump's clear signaling of further action, points to a continued reliance on military force rather than diplomacy.