Spokesperson for the Iranian army Brigadier General Mohammad Akaminia stressed over Iran’s strategy in controlling the Strait of Hormuz, and said that “We will undoubtedly resist until the end and will neutralise the US’ interventions in the region,” according to IRNA on Thursday.
Spokesperson for the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Brigadier General Mohammad Akaminia, stresed Iran’s definitive strategy in controlling the Strait of Hormuz, and said: “We will undoubtedly resist until the end and will neutralize US’ interventions in the region.” pic.twitter.com/wOBJtiY6qj
— IRNA News Agency ☫ (@IrnaEnglish) July 16, 2026
The news outlet stated on its X account that the US “miscalculated” that striking certain bases would allow it to take control of the strait, and asserted that Iran can enforce its “dominance” over the strait “regardless of coastlines or islands”.
Israel tells Pentagon chief it will keep troops in occupied ‘security zones’
Defence Minister Israel Katz told US counterpart Pete Hegseth that Israel will keep its forces in “security zones” carved out inside Lebanon, Syria, and the Gaza Strip, according to Al Jazeera.
In a statement, Katz’s office said the two men spoke overnight and the minister “emphasised Israel’s determination to remain in the security zones in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon in order to protect Israel’s borders and communities”.
The conversation comes despite a US official saying the staunch allies made progress on a plan for Israel to withdraw from “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon, following two-day US-mediated diplomatic talks between Lebanon and Israel in Italy that ended on Wednesday.
Sites in western Iran come under attack amid US escalation, no casualties reported
Several sites in Kabudarahang County in western Iran’s Hamadan province came under attack early Thursday amid a new wave of US strikes, with no casualties reported, Iran’s Fars News Agency said, citing local official.
Hamzeh Amraei, political and security deputy at the Hamadan Governor-General’s Office, said all provincial and county emergency and relief agencies were on full alert and prepared to respond to any emergency.
The attack followed the latest wave of US strikes on Iran announced by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) hours earlier.
US attacks areas near Iranian hospital
IRIB reported on Thursday that US forces struck areas near Ahvaz’s Shahid Baghaei Hospital, which IRIB said treats children with cancer.
U.S. forces attacked areas near Ahvaz’s Shahid Baghaei Hospital, which treats children with cancer. The facility is being temporarily evacuated following the strikes. Families have moved into the streets to ensure their children’s safety.
— IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) (@iribnews_irib) July 15, 2026
“Families have moved into the streets to ensure their children’s safety.”
Iran trades strikes with the US
IRIB reported on the specific US assets targeted during strikes on the Sheikh Isa Air base in Bahrain.
US Army Super Hawk radars, facilities, and Patriot systems were targeted using Arash suicide drones.
Iranian Army: US Army Super Hawk radars, facilities, and Patriot systems at Sheikh Isa Air Base, Bahrain, were targeted using #Arash suicide drones.
— IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) (@iribnews_irib) July 16, 2026
Additionally, IRIB reported that Iranian air defence systems shot down a US MQ-9A Reaper drone over the city of Andimeshk in the Khuzestan Province.
Iranian air defense systems have shot down a U.S. Air Force MQ-9A Reaper drone over the city of Andimeshk, Khuzestan Province, Iran.
— IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) (@iribnews_irib) July 16, 2026
Drones downed over Iraq’s Erbil: Kurdish forces
The US-led coalition shot down several drones on Wednesday over Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, Kurdish forces said.
AFP journalists reported seeing several drones hovering over Erbil, before being hit by air defences, resulting in explosions and visible smoke near the US consulate, which was a target of repeated drone and rocket attacks during the Middle East war.
These are the first reported drone attacks near the consulate in Erbil since a fragile ceasefire began in April.
Kurdish counterterrorism forces said that “coalition forces downed and destroyed eight explosive-laden drones over Erbil between 8:53 and 9:20 PM (10:53pm and 11:20pm PKT)”.
No group has claimed responsibility for any attacks, and no casualties were reported.
They coincide with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s one-week visit to Washington, where he met Trump, and also come against the backdrop of renewed military escalation between the United States and Iran.
During the Middle East war, the Kurdistan region, which hosts US troops and numerous foreign oil companies, was a primary target for drone attacks, carried out mostly by pro-Iran Iraqi armed groups.
Those groups, operating under the umbrella of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, targeted US facilities in Iraq more than 600 times in support of Tehran.
Zaidi has given pro-Iran armed groups, which Washington designates as terrorist organisations, until September 30 to disarm, coinciding with the end of the US-led coalition’s mission.
While some armed groups have said they would cooperate, others remain firm in their refusal to disarm, instead vowing to strengthen their capacities.
Since the start of the war, and even after the ceasefire, Iran has also repeatedly struck Iranian Kurdish rebel groups, which have camps and bases in Iraq’s Kurdistan.
Iran threatens to ‘crush’ regional infrastructure if US attacks Iranian infrastructure
Brigadier General Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, has threatened to respond to any US attacks on Iranian infrastructure with strikes on regional infrastructure, according to Al Jazeera.
In a statement carried by Iranian state media, he said if Trump follows through on his threats, “all the infrastructure in the region will be crushed under the steel blows of the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, so that no trace of them will remain, as if they had never existed in the first place.”
He also said Iran will not allow US interference in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Under no circumstances and in no way will we allow America, as a foreign and extra-regional country, to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz. This is Iran’s invincible red line,” he said.
Iraq PM condemns ‘drone attack’ over Erbil
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi condemned a “drone attack” that violated the airspace of Erbil in the northern Kurdistan region, his office said Thursday, after several drones were shot down.
“We have directed the relevant security agencies… in coordination with the Region’s security forces, to take all necessary measures to prevent the recurrence of such attacks and to thwart anyone attempting to harm the security of our noble Iraqi society, wherever they may be,” he said, without identifying the source of the drones.
IRGC claims missile attack on Jordan airbase
The IRGC claimed missile attacks on Jordan’s Azraq airbase after attacking the same base with drones, according to Al Jazeera.
In a message addressed to the Jordanian people, the IRGC said its forces “targeted and destroyed the American fighter jet storage ramp and the new American command and control centre in West Asia in a very large base in Al-Azraq, Jordan, with Khyber-Shakan ballistic missiles”.
It said the strikes were in retaliation for US attacks that forced the evacuation of 121 children with cancer in Ahvaz, as well as US attacks in March that killed 168 children at a school in Minab.
It urged the Jordanian public not to allow their land to be used “for these crimes against children”.
The IRGC statement came after the Jordanian military said it intercepted eight Iranian missiles this morning.
US completes ‘wave of strikes’ on Iran as Tehran retaliates with attacks on military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait
The US launched two waves of attacks on Iran’s coastal defences and missile sites on Wednesday after reimposing a naval blockade of its ports, while Iran struck back by targeting US military sites in neighbouring countries in what it called an “existential war” with America.
The latest escalation comes days after a fragile truce collapsed, raising the spectre of a return to full-scale war, with Iran once again threatening to shut off more regional energy exports.
https://t.co/8lYsAIspma
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 16, 2026
Hostilities have intensified since Iran said late on Saturday it had closed the Strait of Hormuz. Military operations are also keeping ships from transiting the vital artery, which carried about a fifth of global oil and gas shipments before the war. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, closed at a one-month high of $84.95 a barrel on Wednesday.
US Central Command said the military had attacked coastal defence systems and cruise missile storage and launch sites on Iran’s Greater Tunb Island starting around 6am EDT (3pm PKT), then launched a second wave of strikes against multiple cities nine hours later.
Read: ‘They better behave,’ Trump warns Iran amid fresh hostilities
“US forces struck Iranian command centres, air defence sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities,” it said in a statement, adding it also hit targets in Bandar Abbas, home to Iran’s largest port and key navy and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards facilities on the Strait of Hormuz.
“Earlier this morning, American forces struck coastal defence and cruise missile sites on Greater Tunb Island during a 90-minute wave,” the US military added.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Wednesday it had struck US military targets in the region, including in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. The Guards said they targeted a gathering for US military personnel and a radar system at Ali Al Salem air base in Kuwait with a missile and drone attack.
مرحله دهم عملیات صاعقه ارتش؛ پایگاهها و مراکز آمریکا در کویت و بحرین هدف حملات پهپادی ارتش قرار گرفت pic.twitter.com/5lIDMjpJSC
— خبرگزاری ایسنا (@isna_farsi) July 16, 2026
Three US officials told Reuters that US strikes aimed at forcing open the strait are also targeting Iranian military capabilities that the US would want to destroy before executing more complex operations.
The US military also said it disabled an unladen oil tanker attempting to sail toward Iran’s Kharg Island after it ignored multiple warnings, firing Hellfire missiles into the ship’s smokestack. Since resuming a naval blockade against Iran on Tuesday, the US has redirected two ships and disabled another, the military said.
Iranian news media reported a series of explosions, mainly in coastal areas such as Bandar Abbas. Other explosions or projectile strikes were reported around the city of Ahvaz, just inland from the northern end of the Gulf, and Konarak, Sirik and Qeshm in southern Iran.
Press TV reported at least two explosions in the central Iranian city of Khondab, about 250 km (155 miles) southwest of Tehran. Mehr news agency reported Iran activated its air defences in Tehran to counter hostile threats.
Iranian state broadcaster the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) reported that the US attacks struck near a hospital in Ahvaz that houses a pediatric cancer centre, forcing the temporary evacuation of the hospital. Families have come out to the streets around the hospital to care for their children, the IRIB said.
Read more: Iran vows to defend ‘every inch’, says MoU with the US no longer stands
After the first wave, Tehran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, issued a statement declaring that Iranian security depended on maintaining what he called “Iranian arrangements” in the strait.
“We are in an essential and existential war with America,” Ghalibaf said.
The war has killed thousands of people and displaced millions, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, where the conflict restarted between Israel and Hezbollah. In July alone, US attacks have killed 35 people, Tasnim reported, citing a health ministry official.
Jordan says it intercepted 8 Iranian missiles
Jordan’s Armed Forces announced on Thursday that their air defence units intercepted eight Iranian missiles aimed at the kingdom during the early morning hours
According to a statement from a military official at the General Command of the Jordanian Armed Forces carried by Roya News, the interceptions were part of defensive and operational efforts to protect the country’s sovereignty, secure its airspace and ensure the safety of its citizens.
The military confirmed that the incident resulted in no casualties or property damage.
It also said that teams from the Royal Engineering Corps were deployed to collect missile debris that landed in various parts of the country, securing the affected areas in line with established technical and security protocols.
The military official emphasised that Jordan’s armed forces remain on full alert and continue to monitor the nation’s airspace, warning that any threat will be addressed in accordance with the military’s rules of engagement.
The statement came amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, with the two sides exchanging attacks despite a Pakistani-mediated memorandum of understanding aimed at ending their conflict and reaching a lasting peace agreement.
Lebanon calls for end to Israel’s occupation
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi has said that the goal of the country’s armed forces is to “gradually extend their authority over all Lebanese territory, including the south”, according to the National News Agency (NNA), as per Al Jazeera.
Speaking at a conference held by the French Senate in Paris, he said achieving this objective remains contingent upon a complete Israeli withdrawal from all Lebanese territory.
“No state can complete the building of its institutions and sovereignty while part of its territory remains under occupation. Occupation undermines state institutions, fuels tensions, delays the return to political and security stability, and prevents the state from exercising its full authority over its territory,” Raggi said.
The minister also said that the decision to end Hezbollah’s military presence was not “a response to external pressures, nor the fruit of diplomatic negotiations, but rather an expression of a pure national will”.
Trump says Iran wants to settle
Trump struck a triumphant note, as he has repeatedly since the US and Israel started hostilities on February 28, saying, “We’ll have Iran defeated soon. They’ll be defeated very soon.”
Speaking at a roundtable event at the Pennsylvania Defence and Innovation Summit, Trump also claimed the Iranians want to “settle so badly.”
“They don’t like what we’re doing, and they do want to settle. We’ll find out whether or not we settle with them, or we just finish it off,” Trump said.
On Tuesday, Trump said US negotiators had been in touch with their Iranian counterparts to tell them “you better make a deal.”
Iran’s military spokesperson said that the only way to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was for the US to comply with the 14-point memorandum of understanding that the two sides signed in June, and the implementation of “Iranian regulations” regarding ship traffic in the strait.
Even amid the hostilities, there was a possible sign of goodwill. Trump said Iran had allowed an American who was “wrongfully detained” under the Biden administration in 2024 to leave the country.
“The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Human rights attorney Jared Genser identified the released American as Dena Karari, who had been prevented from leaving Iran since December 2024.
“Dena is now safe and travelling back to the United States,” Genser wrote on X, thanking Trump for his efforts to free her.Latest News, Breaking News & Top News Stories | The Express TribuneAFPRead More