US strikes 140 Iran targets after Hormuz ship attack sparks wider conflict

Dubai,UPDATED: Jul 12, 2026 21:42 IST

The United States launched a major attack on Iran early Sunday after an Iranian strike on a Cyprus-flagged container ship in the Strait of Hormuz set it on fire and left one crew member missing. Iran responded with attacks across the Middle East, including on Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Oman, as fresh fighting pushed a fragile US-Iran interim deal closer to collapse.

The latest escalation has again put the Strait of Hormuz at the centre of the conflict. The waterway, vital for global oil and natural gas supplies, remains a key point of dispute in talks between Washington and Tehran. The US said the strait was open, while Iran said it was closed until calm was restored and repeated its demand that it alone must control the passage, with Oman joining it in managing traffic there.

The US military's Central Command said it struck about 140 targets, including missile and drone launch sites, ammunition dumps, communication equipment and other facilities. It said the attacks, heavier than in recent days, were aimed at reducing Iran's ability to threaten shipping. President Donald Trump told NBC's "Meet the Press": "We bombed the hell out of them last night." Semiofficial Iranian news agencies said a navy officer was killed in the strikes.

Iran then attacked countries in the region that host US military forces, while saying it could charge vessels travelling through the strait. "The era of one-sided deals is OVER," Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran's parliament and a main negotiator, wrote. "We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking." The US has carried out three rounds of airstrikes on Iran in the past week over Iranian attacks on ships using a route off Oman to avoid Iranian territorial waters.

Washington and Trump said the strait remained open on Sunday, but Iran said it would stay closed until calm returned and warned it could target "additional enemy bases in the region" if attacked again. The US military said more than 140 ships had passed through the strait over the past week. A multinational body overseen by the US Navy said traffic was continuing "at reduced levels" off both Oman and Iran, compared with nearly 140 ships a day before the war. About a fifth of traded oil and natural gas had passed through the strait before the war began. Oil prices have fallen sharply since wartime highs of USD 120 a barrel.

Missile alerts sounded across several Gulf countries early Sunday. Qatar's military said it intercepted incoming Iranian fire, while explosions were heard in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates. Qatar's Interior Ministry said three people, including a child, were wounded by shrapnel from the interceptions. Bahrain, home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet, also reported missile alerts, and Kuwait's military said it intercepted incoming fire. In Oman, the state news agency said drones struck sites in an area on the Strait of Hormuz and issued a shelter-in-place warning for residents. The attack came a day after Oman and Iran held talks on the waterway. Oman later summoned the Iranian ambassador and called the strikes "irresponsible". Jordan's state news agency said three Iranian missiles struck areas across the country, causing minor damage but no injuries. Sirens also sounded in the UAE, though the government said the missiles did not cross into its territory.

The container ship hit by Iran suffered "significant engine room damage", according to US Central Command. Oman's maritime authority said 23 crew members were rescued, but one person was missing. India's Ministry of External Affairs said the missing crew member is an Indian national and that it was working with Oman to locate him. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre, run by the British military, said the ship had been moving close to Oman's shoreline. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said several vessels had "disregarded our warnings" and ignored directions to follow what it called an approved route, adding that one vessel "was struck by a warning shot and brought to a stop". Iranian state media later reported US strikes in southern Iran, in the province closest to the strait, and at military sites in a province near Tehran.

The fighting came despite more diplomatic contacts over the strait. The passage lies in the territorial waters of both Iran and Oman but has long been treated as an international waterway. Oman said on Saturday that it and Iran had agreed to continue discussions on the strait "at the technical and political levels". Iran did not say the strait would remain open to all vessels, something sought by the Trump administration. Trump had suggested last week that the interim deal reached on June 17 was "over", but mediators including Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt have continued efforts to secure an agreement. A regional official involved in the mediation, speaking on condition of anonymity, said work to shore up the ceasefire continued on Sunday.

Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen since the war began, also signalled a hard line in his first statement since the funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He said Iranians would avenge his father's killing in the war's opening strikes on February 28. Such revenge "is the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out," he said in a statement broadcast on state television. With the mid-point of the 60-day June 17 interim period due this week, the latest strikes have left the future of the deal and negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz in serious doubt.

With PTI Inputs

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