On Thursday, July 30th, 2026, the United States military launched powerful strikes against multiple targets in Iran, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict that has lasted over five months. According to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), the attack began at 3:30am local time in Iran and lasted for two hours. CENTCOM described the strikes as a "powerful response to yesterday's attempted Iranian attacks on US forces based in the Middle East," targeting dozens of military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, and maritime capabilities linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

This action followed a series of escalating exchanges between Washington and Tehran, including missile attacks by Iran on US bases in Jordan, which were intercepted, and drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities. Jordan's army reported intercepting five Iranian missiles, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards claiming they targeted US bases there. The conflict has also expanded to Iraq, where joint US-Saudi strikes targeted Iran-aligned groups in retaliation for drone attacks on Saudi oil targets. Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a powerful Iran-backed paramilitary group integrated into Iraqi security forces, reported at least 20 members killed and 32 wounded in these strikes. Two officials from the PMF said five Iranian advisors were among the dead.

Saudi Arabia's defense minister met with US Vice-President JD Vance following the joint attacks, urging the US administration not to escalate the conflict further by attacking Yemen's Houthis or conducting additional strikes in Iraq. Meanwhile, Iran's state television reported a US strike in the Piranshahr border area, with no casualties reported.

US President Donald Trump had earlier vowed to hit Iran "very hard," stating it was "our turn" to retaliate after a brief pause in hostilities. The renewed US bombardment ended nearly a week of relative calm and diminished hopes for diplomacy in the region.

The conflict, which began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February, has continued with no clear end in sight, drawing in regional allies and proxies and threatening to engulf the broader Middle East in wider warfare.

Sources