{"id":129238,"date":"2026-07-12T12:46:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T07:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=129238"},"modified":"2026-07-12T12:46:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T07:46:45","slug":"us-launches-fresh-strikes-on-iran-tehran-says-strait-of-hormuz-closed-gulf-states-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/","title":{"rendered":"US launches fresh strikes on Iran; Tehran says Strait of Hormuz closed; Gulf states hit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The US military launched fresh strikes on Iran after the latter struck a container ship on Sunday \u200cwhile Tehran said it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz and escalated attacks on US facilities in states across the Gulf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A series of attacks between the US and Iran over the past several days led President Donald Trump to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2013845\/trump-says-interim-accord-with-iran-to-end-war-is-over\">declare<\/a>&nbsp;the end of a ceasefire meant to halt the war on Iran that the US and Israel began on February 28, though Trump has left the door open to continued negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iran said it closed the strait after firing a warning \u200bshot that struck a vessel travelling on an unapproved route. It warned that any retaliation over the incident would be met with a \u201csevere response.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The US Central Command, however, claimed commercial \u200bvessels continue to transit through the waterway that carried one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil and LNG shipments before the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Central Command said US forces hit 140 Iranian military targets on Saturday, out of more than 300 during three nights of strikes \u201cto degrade Iran\u2019s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels \u200bfreely transiting the strait\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iranian state media reported explosions in a number of port cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response, Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday they had destroyed a command and control centre and drone hangars at \u200ba base in US ally Jordan, targeted a US military radar site in Kuwait, attacked US aircraft carrier support and refueling platforms in Oman and destroyed a fighter jet maintenance centre and command and control facility in Qatar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Guards also said they had struck and disabled a second vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The United Arab Emirates said its air defence systems engaged missiles and drones from Iran, while warning sirens sounded in Bahrain and \u200bexplosions were heard in Doha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tehran\u2019s strikes marked a sharp escalation in pace and targets. In recent weeks, Iran had hit sites in Kuwait and Bahrain while avoiding Qatar since early April and \u200bthe UAE since early May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The war has destabilised the Gulf, while Iran\u2019s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has caused energy prices to surge, fuelling global inflation and raising fears of an economic slowdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Higher prices, \u200cespecially for \u2060gasoline, are a politically sensitive issue for Trump ahead of the November congressional elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iran said several ships attempted to move through the waterway on an \u201cunauthorised route\u201d and disregarded warnings to correct their course. The strait will remain closed until \u201cthe end of US interference in this region,\u201d the Revolutionary Guards said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2014807\/us-launches-fresh-strikes-on-iran-tehran-says-strait-of-hormuz-closed-gulf-states-hit#there-can-only-be-mutual-compliance\"><\/a><strong>\u2018There can only be mutual compliance\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has accused the United States of violating the ceasefire agreement. \u201cThere can only be mutual compliance,\u201d he wrote on X on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Sunday, Iran\u2019s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf posted on X: \u201cThe era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told \u200byou: keep your word or pay the price. \u200bReality is knocking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The US revoked the licence authorising \u2060the sale of Iranian crude on Tuesday after three Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers came under fire earlier in the week, prompting the US to hit Iranian sites. Iran then struck US military sites in Gulf states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Araqchi and Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi met in Oman to exchange \u201cviews on appropriate mechanisms for the \u200bsafe passage of ships through \u2060the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d according to a statement from the Iranian foreign minister. Oman\u2019s state news agency said Omani and Iranian negotiators would continue talks \u201cat the technical and political levels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A written statement from Iran\u2019s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, on Saturday&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2014642\">threatened<\/a>&nbsp;vengeance for the assassination of his predecessor and father in the war\u2019s initial attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe pledge to \u200bavenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs,\u201d his message said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The statement was released to mark \u200bthe funeral ceremonies for the former leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday. His son did not attend the ceremonies and has not been seen in public since the war began.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The US military launched fresh strikes on Iran after the latter struck a container ship on Sunday \u200cwhile Tehran said it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz and escalated attacks on US facilities in states across the Gulf. A series of attacks between the US and Iran over the past several days led President [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>US launches fresh strikes on Iran; Tehran says Strait of Hormuz closed; Gulf states hit - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US launches fresh strikes on Iran; Tehran says Strait of Hormuz closed; Gulf states hit - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The US military launched fresh strikes on Iran after the latter struck a container ship on Sunday \u200cwhile Tehran said it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz and escalated attacks on US facilities in states across the Gulf. A series of attacks between the US and Iran over the past several days led President [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-12T07:46:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-12T07:46:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-5-17.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/\",\"name\":\"US launches fresh strikes on Iran; Tehran says Strait of Hormuz closed; Gulf states hit - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-5-17.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-12T07:46:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-12T07:46:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-5-17.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-5-17.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US launches fresh strikes on Iran; Tehran says Strait of Hormuz closed; Gulf states hit\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US launches fresh strikes on Iran; Tehran says Strait of Hormuz closed; Gulf states hit - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US launches fresh strikes on Iran; Tehran says Strait of Hormuz closed; Gulf states hit - Nation","og_description":"The US military launched fresh strikes on Iran after the latter struck a container ship on Sunday \u200cwhile Tehran said it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz and escalated attacks on US facilities in states across the Gulf. A series of attacks between the US and Iran over the past several days led President [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/","og_site_name":"Nation","article_published_time":"2026-07-12T07:46:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-12T07:46:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":670,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-5-17.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"humza Jahangir","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"humza Jahangir","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/","name":"US launches fresh strikes on Iran; Tehran says Strait of Hormuz closed; Gulf states hit - Nation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-5-17.png","datePublished":"2026-07-12T07:46:44+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-12T07:46:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-5-17.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-5-17.png","width":670,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129238\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US launches fresh strikes on Iran; Tehran says Strait of Hormuz closed; Gulf states hit"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/","name":"Nation","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16","name":"humza Jahangir","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"humza Jahangir"},"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129238"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129240,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129238\/revisions\/129240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}