The U.S. military launched massive strikes against more than 80 Iranian military targets Tuesday after Iran attacked commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, while the Treasury Department simultaneously revoked sanctions waivers that had allowed Tehran to sell oil on international markets.
U.S. Central Command said American forces struck Iranian air defense systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities and more than 60 small boats belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The operation came as an immediate response to three separate Iranian attacks on commercial ships Monday and Tuesday, shattering a brief pause in hostilities that followed last month's memorandum of understanding aimed at restoring safe passage through the strait.
Escalation Threatens Trade Corridor
The strikes were four or five times bigger in scope and power than previous U.S. military action in Hormuz 10 days earlier, according to reports. Iranian state media reported explosions in the port cities of Bandar Abbas and Sirik, as well as on Qeshm Island. The Iranian military launched drones at Bahrain in response, a U.S. official said.
Targets included Iranian air-defense systems, coastal surveillance systems, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship cruise missile sites, drone launch sites and port facilities. CENTCOM said the strikes were designed "to degrade Iran's ability to continue attacking international commerce flowing through the international trade corridor." The command described the Iranian aggression as "unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire."
Diplomatic Framework Collapses
The Treasury Department's decision to revoke oil sanctions waivers marked a sharp reversal of the economic component of last month's understanding. Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the move, saying the U.S. had breached the terms of the memorandum. Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accused the U.S. of major violations. "The era of bullying and extortion is over," Ghalibaf wrote on X. "It leads nowhere. We don't fold."
The Iranian military said it would deliver a "crushing response" to the strikes. President Trump approved the strike plan while in Turkey for this week's NATO summit, a U.S. official told reporters. Trump held a meeting in Ankara with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who flew with him on Air Force One. They were joined by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and other officials already on the ground for the summit.
Trump Declares Deal 'Over'
Speaking Wednesday morning at the start of the NATO summit, Trump said he believes the memorandum of understanding with Iran "is over." He called Iran "dirty players" for targeting commercial vessels and violating the ceasefire. Trump said he'll let his negotiators "keep talking if they want," but added that the U.S. was wasting time with diplomacy and voiced a desire to "do our business" instead of pursuing talks.
A U.S. official said the response was "a direct result of the acts of international terrorism that have been perpetrated by Iran on innocent ships transiting the Straight of Hormuz." CENTCOM said the strikes aimed at imposing "heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway."
Hegseth was expected to travel from Turkey to Israel on Wednesday for his first trip as defense secretary to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Iran and the talks Trump had with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Why This Matters:
The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly one-fifth of global oil traffic, making attacks on commercial vessels a direct threat to working families who pay the price when energy costs spike. The collapse of last month's understanding eliminates a diplomatic pathway that might have prevented further military escalation and restored predictable trade flows through this critical waterway. Reimposing oil sanctions will likely drive up global energy prices at a time when households are already struggling with cost pressures. The administration's pivot away from diplomacy raises the prospect of prolonged conflict that could disrupt supply chains, threaten civilian mariners, and draw regional powers into a wider confrontation. Innocent crew members aboard commercial ships bear the immediate human cost of these attacks, while millions of ordinary people face the economic consequences of instability in a chokepoint that the global economy depends on for affordable energy.