US military completes seventh consecutive night of strikes against Iran

FLORIDA: The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has announced that the US military has finished its seventh consecutive night of strikes against Iran.

Detailing the scale of the operation, the command said that “US forces employed fighter aircraft, aerial drones, and warships, in addition to other assets, to hit surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities”. According to the military release, the operations ended at 9.30 pm Eastern Time on July 17 (01:30 GMT, July 18).

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— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 18, 2026

Washington maintained that the pressure on Tehran would persist under direct executive orders. “CENTCOM continues to hold Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief’s direction while fully enforcing a naval blockade against Iranian ports,” the statement continued.

Highlighting the extensive American military footprint in the region, the briefing underlined the high state of operational alertness among its personnel. “More than 50,000 American service members are operating across the Middle East and remain vigilant, lethal, and ready,” it added.

On the ground, these overnight American bombardments have claimed three lives and left eight others wounded in the southern Hormozgan province of Iran, Iranian state media reported on Saturday.

According to Iran’s state news agency IRNA, which cited Hormozgan’s deputy governor for political, security and social affairs, the casualties were recorded after “enemy attacks” struck multiple locations across the southern province.

The onslaught, which CENTCOM asserted via a statement on X was designed to “continue degrading Iranian military capabilities” under direct orders from President Donald Trump, has triggered a rapid and aggressive military response from Tehran across the broader Gulf region.

Amidst the intensifying hostilities, Tehran claims to have disrupted maritime traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil shipping lane. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed that a pair of oil tankers exploded upon entering what the elite force described as a mined route south of the strait.

In an official briefing carried by IRNA, the Guards claimed the vessels were attempting to navigate the passage under the guidance of “deceptive American intelligence agencies”. However, the IRGC omitted the identities of the targeted tankers and offered no evidence to substantiate the claims.

The IRGC further claimed to have “stopped” four commercial vessels attempting to traverse the strategic chokepoint. These claims could not be independently verified.

The current friction develops as Washington appears to expand the scope of its military operations against Tehran. While Trump had previously threatened to target Iranian infrastructure, US defence officials have not confirmed whether the latest wave hit civilian or strategic installations.

Conversely, Iran accused American forces of striking civilian infrastructure, including an airport, a railway station, and two bridges. Concurrently, Tehran claimed to have hit US military assets positioned across the theatre, though these claims could not be independently verified.

Senior Iranian figures warned that Tehran remains poised to drastically escalate the confrontation should American offensives persist. Major General Mohsen Rezaei, a senior military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that Iran would transition into a phase of “full-scale offensive operations” if US strikes continued for another two to three days.

“Iran will no longer limit itself to retaliatory, like-for-like responses, and no political border will be safe,” Rezaei warned, according to Iranian state media reports.

Furthermore, Revolutionary Guards aerospace commander Majid Mousavi vowed that Iranian missile and drone operations would persist until the United States ceases operations against Iran’s southern coastal installations and territories surrounding the Strait of Hormuz.

This volatile standoff has increasingly widened, drawing multiple Gulf nations into the direct line of fire as regional flashpoints ignite.

Kuwaiti authorities reported that an Iranian strike damaged a domestic power and water installation, forcing officials to request citizens to ration electricity. The Kuwaiti military added that several service members sustained injuries after Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles targeted multiple military sites.

Meanwhile, the IRGC claimed it had struck American radar infrastructure and military aircraft stationed in Qatar, while Qatari authorities confirmed that their air defence networks intercepted incoming missile threats.

Tehran additionally claimed to have hit two American radar sites located in Oman, alongside targeting the Al-Tanf military garrison in Syria. In Amman, the Jordanian military confirmed the interception of three Iranian missiles.

Concurrently, Bahrain advised its citizens to seek shelter following claims by Iranian state media that US aircraft and helicopters deployed at an island airbase had been targeted.

Commercial shipping lanes face mounting disruption as a consequence of the hostilities. The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency reported that a commercial tanker was hit by a projectile off the Omani coast overnight, as attacks against vessels transiting near the Strait of Hormuz persist.

Despite international appeals from global powers urging both factions to return to the negotiating table, there are no indicators of a diplomatic breakthrough, with the ongoing exchanges stoking international anxieties of an all-out regional war. (ANI)