President Donald Trump announced “major combat operations” against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.
Delegations from the U.S. and Iran entered negotiations last month aimed at a war-ending deal based on a memorandum of understanding signed by both countries.
The U.S. and Iran have nonetheless continued to exchange relatively limited strikes despite the signing of the memorandum and amid the continuation of peace talks.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he’s “deeply concerned” by the increasing attacks in Iran and warned of “catastrophic consequences” globally should parties return to “full-scale hostilities.”
“I am deeply concerned by the serious escalation & renewed military confrontations in the Gulf, including the Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the attacks by the US on Iran, and the attacks by Iran on targets in the neighboring countries,” Guterres wrote in a post on X Sunday. “These attacks must all stop.”
U.S. Central Command/via Reuters – A projectile is fired during what the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said was a third round of strikes this week against Iran, in this screen grab taken from a handout video released on July 11, 2026.
“A return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences – for the peoples of the region, for international peace & security & for the global economy. I urge Iran & the US to urgently resume negotiations & to address outstanding issues through diplomacy,” Guterres further wrote.
-ABC News Claire Bower
Several Gulf states and Pakistan responded to Iranian strikes on Saturday night and Sunday with strongly worded statements.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry called the attacks “a blatant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the targeted countries, and a flagrant breach of international law, the Charter of the United Nations, and the principles of good neighborliness.”
In a statement posted on X, the ministry said it is holding Iran legally responsible for the strikes and their fallout.
Oman’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X that it summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest the strikes, expressing “dismay at these irresponsible acts.”
Pakistan’s foreign ministry also voiced “deep concern” over the escalation in regional tensions and urged “all sides to exercise restraint, take immediate steps towards de-escalation and uphold respective commitments under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).”
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned what it called Iran’s “continued destabilizing behavior that undermines the security and stability of the region, and its violation of the principles of international law.”
-ABC News’ Claire Bower
Despite IRGC claims to the contrary, the “Strait of Hormuz is open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transit the international waterway,” U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X Sunday morning.
“U.S. forces are positioned and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available despite unwarranted Iranian aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations. Iran does not control the strait,” the post reads. “Traffic is flowing.”
AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: A ship sails off the coast of Ajman, U.A.E., on July 10, 2026.
The Joint Maritime Information Center also says the Strait of Hormuz is open but maintains the regional threat level as “severe” as traffic has continued to flow at a trickle in recent days.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ navy announced Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice and claimed a commercial vessel transiting the waterway was hit and “halted” by a “warning shot” it fired, according to Iranian media.
The statement also said that any U.S. or allied response would be met by “severe” retaliation.
-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston
At least five Middle Eastern states reported fresh attacks on Saturday night and Sunday morning as fighting again escalated between the U.S. and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz.
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates both reported that their defensive systems intercepted missile attacks. At least three people were injured by falling debris in Qatar, the country’s Interior Ministry said in a statement shared on social media.
In Jordan, a government statement said that three missiles “originating from Iranian territory fell early Sunday morning across several locations inside the kingdom. No casualties were reported, and the impact resulted only in minor material damage.”
Kuwait’s army said its forces intercepted an unspecified aerial threat in the Gulf nation’s airspace. In Oman, state media said that sites in the Musandam Governorate were targeted by drones.
In Bahrain, meanwhile, air raid sirens were sounding on Sunday morning but there was no official confirmation of new attacks.
-/AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: Air defense interceptions are seen in the sky above Doha, Qatar, on July 12, 2026.
-ABC News’ Rashid Haddou
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament who has served as Tehran’s chief negotiator in peace talks, suggested in a post to X on Sunday that the U.S. had failed to honor last month’s memorandum of understanding.
“The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.,” Ghalibaf wrote, posting a screenshot of the text of the MOU in which Iran committed to arranging safe passage for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Ghalibaf’s post came after the U.S. launched a new round of airstrikes on Iranian targets in response to Tehran’s attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps alleged in a statement that was read on state run TV on Saturday that several ships used unapproved routes and ignored warnings from the IRGC Navy.
The IRGC Navy said that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice and claimed that a commercial vessel transiting the waterway was hit and “halted” by a “warning shot” it fired.
Urs Flueeler/via Reuters – PHOTO: The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, is pictured at the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 20, 2026.
The Ministry of Defense in Qatar said early on Sunday that the country’s armed forces intercepted “a number” of ballistic missile attacks, as the Kuwait Army said it confronted “hostile aerial targets” within its airspace.
Those attacks followed renewed U.S. strikes on Iranian targets, although neither Qatar nor Kuwait detailed where the strikes originated from. Air raid sirens also blared in Bahrain early on Sunday.
“The General Staff of the Army notes that any explosion sounds heard are the result of air defense systems intercepting hostile attacks,” the Kuwait Army said in an update.
Kuwaiti forces urged residents to “adhere to security and safety instructions.”
Bahrain did not detail a specific threat, but said its air raid sirens were activated.
“The siren has been sounded,” Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said in a social media post. “Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.”
U.S. forces completed a third round of strikes on Iran, hitting 140 military targets in retaliation for the attack on a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz earlier Saturday, U.S. Central Command said.
The U.S. struck using “precision munitions” launched by land- and sea-based fighter aircraft, drones and naval vessels, CENTCOM said in a statement posted on social media.
CENTCOM – PHOTO: This still photo taken from a video released by U.S. Central Command shows U.S. forces conducting strikes in Iran.
Targets included Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, ammunition storage facilities, communication networks and coastal surveillance locations, CENTCOM said.
Overall, the U.S. has struck over 300 targets in Iran in three rounds of airstrikes this week, in an effort to “degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait,” CENTCOM said.
In a post on social media in response to U.S. Central Command announcing a third round of strikes on Iran, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote: “Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay.”
The U.S. military launched another set of strikes in Iran Saturday night, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
The U.S. strikes came after Iranian forces “blatantly attacked M/V GFS Galaxy, a Cyprus-flagged container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said in a statement posted on X.
“A civilian crew member is missing and the vessel is unable to continue the journey due to an onboard fire and significant engineroom damage,” CENTCOM said.
“Iran was provided yet another opportunity to demonstrate adherence to the Memorandum of Understanding after being held accountable for earlier attacks on commercial vessels but has again failed,” it added.
Iran says the ship was moving through the strait in an “unapproved route” and was hit by a “warning shot.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ navy has announced that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice and claimed a commercial vessel transiting the waterway was hit and “halted” by a “warning shot” it fired, according to Iranian media.
The statement also said that any U.S. or allied response would be met by “severe” retaliation.
Stringer/Reuters – PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement that was read on state run TV Saturday several ships reportedly used unapproved routes and ignored warnings from the IRGC navy.
-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston
