U.S. launches strikes across Iran, says about 90 targets hit after tanker attacks near Strait of Hormuz

U.S. forces launched a new round of strikes in Iran and hit about 90 targets, according to reporting by The Associated Press on statements from U.S. Central Command, marking the most significant fresh U.S. military action since attacks on commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week.

CENTCOM said it had begun “additional strikes against Iran” to reduce Tehran’s ability to threaten shipping through the narrow waterway, a critical route for global oil and gas shipments. “Central Command forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said in a statement carried by Reuters and other outlets from its July 8 post on X. “The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway.”

The strikes followed attacks on commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on July 7. U.S. officials and CENTCOM presented the July 8-9 operation as a direct response and as an effort to protect freedom of navigation through one of the world’s most important shipping chokepoints.

The AP reported on July 9 that CENTCOM said U.S. forces “hit some 90 targets across Iran” and released black-and-white footage that appeared to show strikes on an airport runway and missile launchers. A more detailed target list circulating online has not been verified in CENTCOM’s July 8 public statement and should not be treated as describing these strikes.

Inside Iran, state media and Iranian officials reported explosions in several southern and coastal locations, including Bushehr, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Abbas and Sirik, according to the AP. The AP also reported that Iranian authorities said at least one person was killed: a firefighter at an airport in Iranshahr.

The fallout was quickly visible across the Gulf. Kuwait’s armed forces and Bahrain’s interior ministry reported air-defense activity and public warnings on July 8, according to the AP. Oil markets also reacted, with the AP reporting a near-term rise in Brent crude prices after the latest U.S. statements and strikes.

The Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula, is the main exit route from the Persian Gulf and carries a large share of the world’s seaborne oil and gas. Because so much energy trade passes through it, military action tied to shipping security can have immediate regional and economic effects.

The latest strikes come amid a broader U.S.-Iran military confrontation that has been underway since late February under a CENTCOM campaign. A mid-June interim arrangement, known as the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, was intended to extend a ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic, but President Donald Trump later said that ceasefire was “over” before this latest round of strikes.