The United States military completed a new round of attacks on Iranian military targets on Monday, marking the latest escalation in a conflict that has entered a phase of increased intensity following the collapse of the ceasefire agreed upon in June.
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that the mission concluded at 10:15 p.m. ET on July 13, after five hours of operations. The forces targeted positions in Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa, and Bandar Abbas, employing precision munitions against coastal defense systems, missile sites, drones, and Iranian maritime capabilities.
"The U.S. Central Command completed the latest wave of attacks against Iran at 10:15 p.m. ET on July 13. During the five-hour mission, U.S. forces successfully struck military targets across Iran [...] to further degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping," CENTCOM noted in its statement.
The bombings occur following the collapse of the Memorandum of Understanding signed on June 17 and 19 in Switzerland —known as the "Memorandum of Islamabad"— which had established a 60-day truce between the US and Iran along with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a $300 billion reconstruction fund.
The agreement fell apart after Iran attacked commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz between July 6 and 7. President Donald Trump declared the truce over on July 8 from the NATO summit in Ankara, and on July 13 he warned unequivocally: " We are going to hit them very hard tonight and we are going to hit them very hard tomorrow, and there is absolutely nothing they can do about it."
Iran responded to previous attacks by launching ballistic missiles and drones against U.S. military bases in Bahrain—home to the Fifth Fleet—Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman on July 12 and 13, although the forces of those countries intercepted some of the projectiles.
The new supreme leader of Iran, Mojtaba Jamenei —appointed on March 8, 2026, following the death of his father Ali Jamenei during the initial strikes of Operation Epic Fury— vowed on July 11 to avenge that death and ordered the continuation of attacks against U.S. bases in the region.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) classified the situation as the effective end of the ceasefire, warning that the exchanges of fire in the Persian Gulf are "more intense and consistent" than during the truce. According to the ISW, "the increase in attacks and the reimposition of the blockade mark the end of the ceasefire," although the current geographic scope is smaller than that of the fighting in March and April of 2026.
The conflict began on February 28, 2026, with Operation Epic Fury, a joint offensive by the U.S. and Israel that destroyed over 5,000 Iranian targets, including nuclear facilities in Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow. Since then, the U.S. has carried out multiple rounds of bombings against Iranian territory.
CENTCOM reported that more than 50,000 U.S. military personnel remain deployed in the Middle East, and concluded its statement with a direct warning: “American forces remain vigilant, lethal, and ready.”
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