Thursday, July 23, 2026

Trump orders more U.S. strikes to degrade Iran’s grip on Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump has ordered more strikes on Iran.

• July 9, 2026
United States President Donald Trump
United States President Donald Trump

President Donald Trump, on Wednesday, ordered new strikes on Iran, warning that more retaliatory actions are underway if Tehran did not stop its attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

“This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!” Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “We’re gonna hit ’em hard tonight. They violate the agreement every day.”

According to a statement on Wednesday posted on its official Facebook page, the United States Central Command (U.S. CENTCOM) said the combatant unit had begun “conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade its ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz”.

It added, “At the direction of the commander-in-chief, U.S. Central Command forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran. The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway.”

In a subsequent update on Thursday, the command said its forces had completed “an additional round of strikes against Iran in a bid to degrade the country’s ability to attack commercial shipping and innocent civilian mariners in the Strait of Hormuz”.

The command said it struck an estimated 90 Iranian military targets, including air defence systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline.

It said the command also struck 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats to deter further Iranian violations of the ceasefire agreement and recent attacks on three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

“U.S. forces remain vigilant, lethal, and prepared to execute operations directed by the commander-in-chief,” the command stated.

Reacting to the development in a post on X on Thursday, Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the Strait of Hormuz would only reopen under conditions determined by Iran.

Mr Ghalibaf stated, “The U.S. is yet to learn that bullying and breaking promises no longer come without cost. Let me be clear. If you strike, you will be hit.

“Don’t flail around pointlessly, or you’ll sink even deeper. The Strait of Hormuz will only open with Iranian arrangements, not American threats.”

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