The United States completed its 13th consecutive night of strikes against Iran at 01:00 GMT on July 24, 2026. US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the targets included military command centres, drone storage facilities, communication networks, coastal surveillance sites, and maritime capabilities. Explosions were reported across multiple Iranian cities on Friday morning, while ship tracking data showed only a single tanker successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz the previous day — the lowest level since May 7, 2026.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported explosions in 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 missile strikes 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 an early morning 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 strike campaign, which began on July 8, 2026, has steadily expanded in scope and intensity. US officials told Reuters on July 15 that targets include Iranian air defenses, coastal radar sites, and broader military infrastructure. In one earlier round, US forces struck approximately 140 Iranian military targets using precision munitions from land- and sea-based fighter aircraft and drones. The operation, named Operation Midnight Hammer, also includes strikes on Iran's nuclear sites. Defense officials described the strike on the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant — which used 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs, weapons designed to burrow deep underground before detonating — as "historically successful" and "15 years in the making." Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated on July 22 that the war has cost $37.5 billion.

Iran has not absorbed these strikes passively. The Iranian army, in a statement carried by Mehr, said it used drones to target fuel storage tanks, equipment warehouses, and troop living quarters at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain. It also stated it targeted aircraft hangars, maintenance facilities, and accommodation sites at the Muwaffaq Salti/Al-Azraq base in Jordan. On July 22, Iran threatened to strike infrastructure and bridges across the region if US attacks on Iranian targets continued. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on X that using frozen 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 maritime dimension is where the conflict's economic stakes become most visible. Yemen's Houthis announced a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia on July 20. By Friday, July 24, London Stock Exchange Group shipping data showed two Chinese supertankers carrying Saudi crude had successfully exited the Bab al-Mandeb strait — a passage that aligns with the Houthis' earlier practice, during their Red Sea campaign, of cutting deals with Russia and China to permit their ships safe passage. The selective allowance for Chinese vessels stands in sharp contrast to the near-total collapse of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

That collapse has been accelerating for weeks. Reuters reported on July 16 that Hormuz transits were dropping as the US and Iran escalated attacks across the Gulf. 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 crude or LNG carriers were visible in the strait according to shipping data reported by Reuters and TimesLIVE. A tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict, and Trump has proposed a cargo transit fee for the passage. Ship traffic had briefly resumed in mid-June, when a handful of vessels including the Malta-flagged Disha gas tanker began crossing after a prior agreement.

Mediators were pushing for a 10-day ceasefire — a temporary halt to fighting, usually negotiated to allow humanitarian access or diplomatic progress — as of July 21, according to CNBC. Whether those efforts survive the current escalation cycle is uncertain, particularly given Trump's signals about a potentially larger attack and Iran's decision to extend retaliatory strikes to US-adjacent facilities in Bahrain and Jordan. The targeting of bases in two additional Gulf states introduces new actors and escalation vectors into a conflict that already spans Iran's nuclear infrastructure, the Gulf's maritime chokepoints, and the Red Sea.

The broader context here is about how many players this conflict now involves, and how fast that number is growing. The simultaneous disruption of both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandeb strait effectively compresses two of the world's most critical maritime corridors — through which roughly a third of global seaborne oil passes — into a single crisis. The Houthis' selective enforcement, permitting Chinese-flagged vessels through Bab al-Mandeb while blockading Saudi shipping, suggests a deliberate strategy of splitting the maritime coalition: rewarding non-aligned commercial actors and punishing US-aligned Gulf states. If that model holds, it could reshape how neutral shipping interests navigate the conflict, incentivizing flag changes or bilateral arrangements with Houthi authorities rather than reliance on US naval protection.

The widening of Iranian retaliation to Bahrain and Jordan also raises the question of whether Iran's target set will continue to expand to include every Gulf state hosting US military assets. With the campaign now in its third week and no cessation in sight, the conflict's center of gravity is shifting from a bilateral US-Iran exchange toward a regional confrontation drawing in multiple host nations.