Iran-US war latest: Trump launches wave of strikes on regime for fifth night in a row

US launches new wave of strikes hitting Iranian command centers, missile sites and coastal defensesUS president Donald Trump has launched another wave of strikes on Tehran for the fifth night in a row, including on an island that helps Iran exert significant control over the Strait of Hormuz. An attack on Greater Tunb Island targeted Iranian defence and missile sites, US Central Command said. The regime uses the island partially to control the key shipping waterway.

The US says its wants to reduce Iran’s military capabilities and reopen the strait.Earlier, Iran asked Yemen’s Houthi movement to close a critical oil route in the Red Sea if the US struck Iranian power infrastructure, in a fresh threat towards the global economy. The plan to close the Bab el-Mandeb strait was discussed with Tehran’s leadership, according to the Reuters news agency.

With the Strait of Hormuz already closed, any Houthi attacks on vessels or ports in the Red Sea would leave the Middle East’s two main oil export routes disrupted simultaneously.RecommendedUS strikes expand into northern Iran as it disables ship trying to run blockadeTrump ‘asked Netanyahu’ to pull Israeli troops out of Syria and Lebanon: ‘They don’t want you there’British man detained in Iran has jail term extended for speaking to press, family saysVance tells Joe Rogan that some Israeli leaders want conflict with Iran to continue ‘indefinitely’Israeli soldier sentenced to five years in prison for spying for IranIran attacks Bahrain, Jordan and KuwaitIran has retaliated against the US with missile and drone attacks on Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, authorities in those countries home to US forces said. There was no immediate acknowledgment of damage or casualties.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi condemned an overnight drone attack in Iraq's semiautonomous northern Kurdish region. On Wednesday, an American strike targeted a barracks for Iran's 388th Mechanised Infantry Brigade, which operates tanks and armoured vehicles, in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iranian state television reported. The report said seven were killed in the attack, including conscripts and career soldiers.

A drone strike on a warehouse in Al Shuaiba, Kuwait (Reuters)Jane Dalton16 July 2026 20:50US targets area around Iran's ballistic missile productionAmerica has launched fresh attacks on Iran for a fifth night in a row.Iranian state media said the strikes hit around Tehran and Semnan province, home to Iran's ballistic missile production and space programme. It also reported strikes around the provinces of Hamedan, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Lorestan, Markazi, and Sistan and Baluchestan, as well as on Iran's Qeshm island, near the Strait of Hormuz.

An attack on Greater Tunb Island targeted Iranian defence and missile sites, US Central Command said.Greater Tunb Island is one of three small rocky islands that sit at the confluence of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. The islands — seized in 1971 by Iran from what would become the United Arab Emirates — help it exert significant control over the strait.

The US military also said it disabled a Curacao-flagged oil tanker as it sailed toward Iran's main oil export terminal, firing a missile after the ship “ignored multiple warnings”. Jane Dalton16 July 2026 19:50Recap: Iran hits back as US steps up attacks including near TehranRecap: The United States has intensified its strikes on Iran, hitting targets farther north and firing into a ship the US accused of trying to break its naval blockade on the Islamic Republic. Iran retaliated by launching missiles and drones at US allies in the region, and warned its attacks may escalate.

The interim ceasefire agreed to last month has collapsed, and the region risks tipping back into all-out war after days of back-and-forth strikes by the US and Iran as they wage for control over the Strait of Hormuz.Iranian officials say US strikes have killed more than 35 people and wounded over 300 others.For the first time in this latest round of violence, strikes also reached into areas around Iran's capital, Tehran, showing a widening set of targets for the Americans.

Daily life continues in Tehran (AP)Jane Dalton16 July 2026 19:30Karoline Leavitt says Iran 'wants to make a deal' with USPresident Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt has insisted that Iran “wants to make a deal” with the US.During a press conference at the White House, she said Tehran had violated the memorandum of understanding, resulting in further strikes."Specifically, in ‌the memorandum of ‌understanding that they signed, they were not to fire on commercial ⁠vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz, and unfortunately they have made the tragic decision for them to do that,” she said.

Ms Leavitt added that the Strait of Hormuz ‌is open for ​ships that are not traveling ‌to or from ⁠Iranian ports and that ⁠the US Navy remains there "to ensure ‌that can ​take place."She said Iran is a “fragmented system” and that President Trump will “hold them accoun