US military says it’s launched an 11th night of strikes on Iran as they vie for control of choked-off Strait of Hormuz.
The US military said it launched an 11th night of strikes on Iran early Wednesday as attacks across the Middle East overshadowed diplomatic efforts in Pakistan to salvage an interim ceasefire deal that has collapsed.
US Central Command did not immediately reveal the targets being struck in the latest wave, which comes after President Donald Trump telegraphed that strikes would be intensifying.
Before the newest barrage, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict seeking to revamp diplomacy. But it was unclear what new arrangement might be reached to end the war, which lately has become a battle for control over the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway vital to world energy supplies.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump gave a dim view on possible talks, saying the US had “no interest in meeting.” He signaled that US forces could soon target an area of Iran close to one of its main sites for enriching uranium.
With negotiations and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz largely stalled, both sides have sought to gain leverage by targeting civilian infrastructure in the region relied on by millions of people.
A barrage of US strikes hasn’t loosened Iran’s grip on the strait, through which about one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and natural gas was shipped before the war.
The US continued its airstrikes on the Islamic Republic Tuesday, and Iran attacked a tanker in the strait, forcing the crew to abandon the ship. Iran also kept up attacks against US allies in the region. Sirens in Bahrain and Kuwait warned residents of incoming projectiles.
The escalation pushed energy prices higher. The international benchmark for crude oil traded Tuesday above $91 a barrel and regular gasoline in the US climbed to an average of $4 a gallon.
With US midterm elections approaching in the fall, polls have pointed to the unpopularity of the war among Americans, who have felt the pain of pricier gas and seen new casualties in a conflict that weeks ago seemed to be winding down.
The number of wounded US personnel in the Iran war has grown to well over 500 troops, a US official told The Associated Press. The total is higher than the Pentagon’s official tally on the Defense Casualty Analysis System, which currently shows 482 wounded.
The US official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the system has a significant lag in reporting injuries. The official said that was a function of its design and not intentional.
In the Red Sea, Iran-backed Yemen’s Houthi rebels have opened a new front against Saudi Arabia by declaring a naval blockade of the kingdom, threatening the flow of global oil supplies and trade. With the Strait of Hormuz blocked up, Saudi Arabia has been relying on a pipeline to the Red Sea to get millions of barrels of oil out to market.
A news agency in Yemen that is run by the Houthis, SABA, said Tuesday that six ships in the Red Sea were forced to reroute after they received warnings from the rebel group. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the claim.
Three Houthi officials said the group warned international shipping companies on Monday to avoid transiting through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they weren’t authorized to speak to journalists.
Momeni, Iran’s interior minister, met Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, according to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations. Momeni later met Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
In a statement, Sharif expressed deep concern over the recent US-Iran escalation, and urged all sides to exercise restraint and avoid actions that could further destabilize the region.
Pakistan’s political leadership and Munir, who serves as both the chief of army staff and defense forces, played a key role in brokering last month’s interim agreement between the US and Iran. Islamabad has been working to persuade both sides to return to the negotiating table.
Trump told reporters that Iranian officials “want to desperately meet. And until they’re ready to meet in a meaningful way, we have no interest in meeting.” He said the US would soon target the area near Pickaxe Mountain — a fortified underground site near one of Iran’s primary nuclear enrichment facilities.
Iran’s military leaders said any attack on nuclear or “other sensitive facilities” would be considered a major escalation, according to a statement reported by Iranian state media.
“We declare that if the invading and terrorist military of that country enters such a phase, we will regard it as an expansion of the war across the region, and all interests of the United States, its allies, and its supporters will become targets of powerful attacks by the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said the statement from the armed forces’ Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.
A deep level of mistrust persists on both sides. Iran came under a surprise attack in June 2025 and again in February while it was engaging in nuclear negotiations with the US. The interim deal unraveled when Iran resumed attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which was supposed to be reopened under the agreement.
US Central Command said Tuesday it targeted “Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and air defense systems.” It released more footage of bombings that targeted sites in Iran.
“American forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression toward civilian mariners seeking to freely and openly transit the strait,” the command said.
Iranian state media reported that explosions were heard in Fars, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, and Sistan and Baluchistan provinces.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said a tanker came under attack early Tuesday in the strait off Oman, forcing the crew to abandon the vessel.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for the attack, as well as two other attacks on ships Monday in the waterway.
The route close to Oman’s shores has been the one the US military has encouraged ships to travel to avoid Iran’s control.
To enforce the blockade in the strait, as of Tuesday US forces have redirected eight commercial vessels and disabled one, CENTCOM said on X.
Tehran also hit US-allied countries throughout the Mideast on Tuesday.
Jordan’s military said Iran targeted it with five drones and three missiles, all of which were shot down. Bahrain sounded its missile alert sirens on Tuesday afternoon as another Iranian barrage targeted the island kingdom, which is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.
In Iraq, flights were temporarily suspended at Irbil International Airport after a wave of attacks targeted the capital of the semiautonomous northern Kurdish region, according to Iraq’s state-run news agency. No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but in the past both Iran and Iran-backed Iraqi militias have launched attacks in the Kurdish region, where US troops are present.
