Iran war live: US hits Iranian oil tanker; Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan attacked

Live updates,

Explosions have been reported on Iran's Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas, and Chabahar by Iranian media, while air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain and Kuwait.

The escalation marks a significant shift in the US-Israel military campaign, which has been ongoing for weeks without a diplomatic breakthrough.

Published On 16 Jul 2026

• The US military says it launched another wave of strikes on Iran, with Iranian media reporting explosions on Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas and Chabahar.
• Iran launches retaliatory attacks against what it says are US assets in the region, including Kuwait and Jordan, while Bahrain activated alarms over air attacks.

27 Updates

• 1m ago

   (03:00 GMT)

  

  Here’s what we know about the latest round of attacks between the US and Iran

  • The US military says it has completed another wave of strikes against Iran with the aim of degrading the country’s ability to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, including Bandar Abbas and Greater Tunb Island.
  • Iranian media reported explosions on Qeshm Island as well as the cities of Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Chabahar, Konarak and Rask. US air strikes also hit the central city of Khondab, while residents in western city of Khorramabad reported hearing two explosions.
  • Air defence systems were also activated in the capital, Tehran, and nearby Pakdasht.
  • Iran’s army and the IRGC meanwhile claimed retaliatory attacks on US forces in Kuwait and Jordan, and said an MQ-9 drone was downed over the Iranian city of Andimeshk. Sirens have sounded in Bahrain, too.
  • Earlier, the US military – which has reinstated a blockade on Iranian ports – said it carried out a missile attack on a tanker heading to an Iranian port and redirected two other ships.
  • At least 35 people have been killed and more than 300 have been wounded in the ongoing US attacks, according to Iran’s health ministry.

• 11m ago

   (02:50 GMT)

  Trump says diplomacy still possible, but commits to ratcheting up military pressure on Iran

  Reporting from Washington DC, US

  Throughout this week, the US president has repeatedly signaled his readiness to broaden military operations against Iran, moving beyond strictly military assets like naval vessels, missile sites, and storage depots to potentially include civilian infrastructure such as power plants and bridges.

  That is legally very questionable and has brought criticism against the Trump administration before, earlier in this war.

  But Trump says he is committed to making the Iranians actually agree to a deal that will ensure not just US national security but global security as well.

  One of the Trump administration’s main tenets is that it does not want to see Iran develop a nuclear weapons arsenal. It also does not want to see Iran continue to carry out what the US calls human rights violations, arresting, punishing, and killing people for expressing political views not in sync with those of the central government in Tehran.

  So, while Trump says there is still a possibility for diplomacy, right now his commitment, he says, is to ratcheting up military activity against the Iranian government.

• 21m ago

   (02:40 GMT)

  Could the US take control of Iran’s southern islands?

  In recent days, US forces have targeted Iran's Qeshm, Kish, and Abu Musa islands as part of an intensifying campaign that has also battered southern port cities like Bandar Abbas.

  The attacks have revived a question that has hung over the US-Israel war on Iran since its early weeks: Is Washington preparing to seize Iranian territory?

  You can read more here. 

  

• 31m ago

   (02:30 GMT)

  A ‘shift in the party’ as ‘record’ number of Democrats vote to end Israeli military funding

  As we’ve been reporting, some 103 of 212 Democrats in the House of Representatives voted in favour of a bill to end US aid to Israel.

  Congresswoman Ilhan Omar hailed the vote as unprecedented.

  “A record number of Democrats” voted in support of the amendment “because millions of people spoke out, organised, and refused to stay silent,” she wrote on X. “Our movement is making a difference. Keep organizing. Keep building power.”

  Congresswoman Summer Lee described the vote as a “shift in the party” but said it was “still unconscionable for any member of Congress to justify sending any aid to fuel Israel’s genocide”.

  Meanwhile, Congressman Ro Khanna said he wanted to recognise the “courage” of former lawmakers Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush who lost their seats for for taking the same stand two years ago.

  “As a colleague told me, Black martyrdom is normalized in America,” he added.

  

• 36m ago

   (02:25 GMT)

  

  Iran claims drone attack on ‘US facilities’ at Jordan’s Azraq base

  Iran’s army says it targeted communications systems, a fixed radar site and fuel depots of the US military at Jordan’s Azraq Air Base using attack drones.

  In a statement carried by the Fars news agency, the army said the attack formed the ninth phase of its “Saeqeh” operation and was launched in response to recent attacks on Iran, including a strike on the Bampur barracks in Iranshahr that it said killed seven soldiers.

• 41m ago

   (02:20 GMT)

  What’s the significance of the US attacks on Greater Tunb Island?

  Reporting from Tehran, Iran

  Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa are three important islands in the Strait of Hormuz. There are controversies about Iran trying to assert sovereignty over these three islands.

  Like other islands in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz, such as Qeshm Island, their significance lies in the very fact that whoever controls those islands has an upper hand when it comes to control and authority over the Strait of Hormuz. And we know that Iran has time and again put emphasis on its authority and control over the strait.

  Militarily speaking, these islands are important as they also host Iranian military infrastructure. They are part of a layered defence system, and Greater Tunb can be considered as a forward military outpost, which again adds another layer of significance to the island.

  All in all, we know that Iran is trying to flex its muscles over the Strait of Hormuz. They are talking about a new management coordinated with the Omani side, and they are saying that ships and vessels are now not allowed to transit through this geostrategically significant chokepoint.

• 51m ago

   (02:10 GMT)

  WATCH: Iranian doctor says US strike damaged children’s cancer hospital

  Iranians are inspecting the damage from days of US strikes on key cities in the country’s south and west. Residents say attacks have damaged ports and at least one hospital.

  Watch below:

• 52m ago

   (02:09 GMT)

  

  Iran claims attack on US forces at Kuwait’s Ali Al Salem base

  The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it carried out a combined missile and drone attack on the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait.

  In a statement carried by the IRIB broadcaster, the IRGC said it targeted a C-RAM early-warning radar and a gathering point for US soldiers during the eighth wave of its “Nasr 2” operation.

  It also accused the US of using Kuwaiti territory to launch attacks against Iran and called on Kuwaitis to demand the removal of US forces from the country.

• Sign up for Al Jazeera

  Americas Coverage Newsletter

• 1h ago

   (02:00 GMT)

  ‘Lebanese army doesn’t want to work directly with the Israelis’

  By Heidi Pett

  Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon

  The talks [between Israel and Lebanon in Rome] are historic. But the outcome – still a bit unclear.

  This is the sixth round of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel mediated by the United States.

  The president here [in Lebanon] told his delegation before they took off to Rome that they should be discussing the immediate Israeli withdrawal from the pilot zone before anything else. On Wednesday, he was making positive noises, saying that the Americans were listening to them.

  The Israelis, for their part, say that the pilot zones have been agreed upon and that there is a desire to implement them quickly, echoing what a US State Department official told Al Jazeera – that the talks were fruitful, and the framework agreement and the pilot zones would be implemented in the coming days.

  Now, these pilot zones are areas where the Israeli military is supposed to withdraw – the Lebanese army then deploys and frees the area of Hezbollah weapons.

  But there are two problems. Firstly, the zones currently being discussed are not really under Israeli control. Their troops are not present on the ground. Instead, they’re controlling these areas from the air with fire.

  Secondly, they are reportedly demanding to be directly involved in verifying afterwards that the Lebanese army really has cleared these areas. The Lebanese army doesn’t want to work directly with the Israelis. Now that has spurred concern for many here in Lebanon. They fear that any kind of hiccup could delay the withdrawal, or that it doesn’t happen at all.

• 1h ago

   (01:50 GMT)

  Israel returns body of missing Lebanese soldier

  The Israeli military has returned the body of Lebanese Presidential Guard Patrick Bakarian months after he went missing, Lebanon’s L’Orient-Le Jour newspaper has reported.

  Bakarian’s remains were handed over by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Wednesday, L’Orient-Le Jour said, citing a statement from the Lebanese army.

  Bakarian had been missing since he was targeted inside his vehicle by Israeli forces on April 19.

  

• 1h ago

   (01:40 GMT)

  Air defences activated in Tehran, Pakdasht

  Reporting from Tehran, Iran

  Over the past hour, we heard sounds of activation of the air defence system in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

  Meanwhile, local authorities in Pakdasht are also reporting sounds related to the activation of the air defence system. There are unconfirmed reports [of explosions] coming from Parchin. The Fars news agency says that in Semnan and Khorramabad, sounds of explosions have been heard.

  The IRGC came out to say that in the city of Andimeshk, in Kuzestan province, its air force downed an MQ-9 belonging to the enemy.

  Meanwhile, earlier tonight, we’ve got explosions taking place along the southern coasts of the country, including Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Sirik, and Konarak.

• 1h ago

   (01:32 GMT)

  

  US military says latest wave of strikes on Iran completed

  US Central Command says it has completed its latest wave of strikes against Iran.

  CENTCOM said US forces “struck Iranian command centres, air defence sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities” with the aim of degrading Iran’s ability to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

  The military said it used “precision munitions to hit targets in multiple locations including Bandar Abbas”.

  It added that US forces struck coastal defence and cruise missile sites on Greater Tunb Island during a 90-minute operation earlier on Wednesday.

  

• 1h ago

   (01:30 GMT)

  Mapping the latest US strikes across Iran

  The US military has launched hundreds of air attacks across Iran over the past week, killing at least 35 people and wounding 300, according to Iranian health officials.

  The US, which has reimposed a naval blockade on Iran, said it targeted military sites along the country’s southern coast and near the Strait of Hormuz, despite a ceasefire agreement.

  Iran, meanwhile, carried out attacks on US military facilities across the region, raising fears of a return to all-out war.

  Where has the US struck Iran?

  You can read more here.

  

• 1h ago

   (01:20 GMT)

  Trump expresses rare gratitude as Iran releases detained American

  Reporting from the White House, Washington DC

  Trump is saying that there is still some kind of dialogue going on.

  [Speaking in Pennsylvania], he repeated what he said some 24 hours ago, that his people, as he put it, have been talking to their people, implying that there is an avenue of dialogue that exists between the US administration and the Iranian administration.

  I must mention this marks a rare expression of gratitude by President Trump to Iran.

  Writing on his Truth Social, he’s posted a report saying Iran has allowed an American citizen, who was wrongfully detained in December of 2024, to leave the country.

  “She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition”. He continues: “The United States of America appreciates this Gesture of goodwill by Iran!”

  So, a rare expression of gratitude by President Trump at a time that relations between the US and Iran continue to intensify, as does the ongoing conflict.

• 1h ago

   (01:10 GMT)

  Oil rises for fourth day as US-Iran tensions threaten supplies

  Oil prices have risen for a fourth consecutive day after renewed US strikes on Iran raised fears of wider conflict and further disruption to energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters.

  Brent crude gained 0.4 percent to $85.28 a barrel by 00:26 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate rose 0.5 percent to $80.02.

  Prices have climbed this week as attacks disrupted flows through the strait, which handled about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade before the conflict. Goldman Sachs said Brent could exceed $110 in the fourth quarter if Gulf exports remain constrained.

• 2h ago

   (01:00 GMT)

  Rashida Tlaib hails Democrats who voted to end funding for Israel

  Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has praised the lawmakers who voted in favour of ending $3.3bn in military aid to Israel, though the amendment was defeated in the House, 314 to 104.

  Some 103 of the House’s 212 Democrats supported the measure, while just one Republican – Thomas Massie, the Kentucky libertarian who introduced it – voted in favour.

  “Proud of my colleagues who voted to stop funding Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people,” Tlaib wrote on X.

  “When folks talk about this vote, remember it’s been over 3 years of this violent ethnic cleansing campaign where over 73,000 Palestinians have been killed, millions made homeless, and thousands of amputee children,” she said.

  “The genocide continues. Keep talking about Gaza. Never stop.”

  Proud of my colleagues who voted to stop funding Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people.

  When folks talk about this vote, remember it's been over 3 years of this violent ethnic cleansing campaign where over 73,000 Palestinians have been killed, millions made homeless, and… https://t.co/kuRSRZCYFI

  — Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) July 15, 2026

• 2h ago

   (00:55 GMT)

  

  Two explosions heard in Iran’s Khorramabad

  The Fars news agency says residents in the western city of Khorramabad have reported hearing at least two explosions.

  The city is about 490km (304 miles) southwest of Tehran.

  We’ll bring you more when we have it.

• 2h ago

   (00:50 GMT)

  

  US forces continue attacks as death toll in Iran rises to at least 35

  It’s been yet another night of American strikes targeting the Iranian southern coast, including different strategic locations.

  We’ve got reports of explosions in Qeshm Island, the largest island in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as in Bandar Abbas. We’ve got similar reports about explosions in another important port city for the country, Sirik, which oversees the Strait of Hormuz.

  We’ve also got reports of explosions in southeastern parts of the country in Sistan province, including Chabahar and Konarak, and also in Rask City.

  In Ahvaz, several explosions were reported over the past few hours, in one of which a hospital was targeted, or at least impacted. As a result, it was evacuated, and we’ve got reports about damage to the child cancer treatment hospital.

  The Health Ministry also gave the latest casualty figures since the initiation of this recent round of attacks, saying that so far, more than 300 people have been injured and at least 35 people have been killed.

  And in return, we are hearing from Iranians talking about their retaliatory strikes targeting US military sites across the region.

• 2h ago

   (00:47 GMT)

  

  Two US strikes hit site near Iran’s Khondab

  Two US air strikes have hit a site outside the city of Khondab in Iran’s central Markazi province, the Fars news agency reports, citing the province’s deputy governor.

• 2h ago

   (00:45 GMT)

  

  Air defence systems activated in Tehran

  The Mehr news agency says air defence systems have been activated in Tehran to “counter hostile threats”.

  The report comes as the US military announced it launched two waves of strikes on Iran, “targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz”.

President Trump has vowed to continue ratcheting up military pressure until Iran agrees to a deal addressing nuclear ambitions and human rights concerns, though such strikes on civilian targets have drawn legal criticism. While he insists diplomacy remains an option, the current focus is on expanding military operations, raising questions about potential territorial seizure.