U.S. launches new wave of strikes in escalating battle over Strait of Hormuz

Video verified by CBS News shows a thick column of smoke rising from the Iranian port town of Chabahar on Wednesday. 

Iranian state media reported American strikes on the city Wednesday, as U.S. Central Command announced a new wave of strikes.

Chabahar is home to a commercial port about 200 miles east of the Strait of Hormuz, in far southern Iran.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency warned airlines Tuesday not to fly through some Persian Gulf states’ airspace amid stepped up attacks by the U.S. on Iran, and Iran’s retaliatory fire at American allies and commercial vessels.

EASA issued an advisory that it said would remain in place at least until July 29 warning carriers to avoid the airspace of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and parts of the Gulf of Oman.

It notes that implementation of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreed in mid-June – which President Trump declared “over” a week ago, “has been subject to recurrent and significant violations, creating again, a high level of risk across the Gulf region.” 

“The heightened readiness and activation of national and U.S. air-defense systems increase the risk of misidentification, unintended engagement and collateral effects affecting civil aircraft,” the EASA notice says, adding that “unpredictable military developments, combined with the possible use of missiles, drones, combat aircraft and air-defense systems, create a high risk to civil flights at all altitudes.” 

International benchmark Brent crude oil was still trading over $85 a barrel Wednesday as intensified strikes in and around the Strait of Hormuz continue hampering the flow of oil and gas through the vital shipping lanes.

Brent crude shot up to $86 a barrel Tuesday, a one-month high, after President Trump announced the U.S. would reimpose its naval blockade of Iran’s ports and associated vessels.

Brent was trading early Wednesday at $85.50, while U.S. benchmark Texas Intermediate was selling for just under $80, both still significantly higher than pre-war levels, but below the peak of almost $120 per barrel that Brent hit at the height of the conflict

The U.S. military’s Central Command announced a new wave of strikes on Iran Wednesday morning, following a seven-hour barrage overnight.

“The strikes are designed to further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said in a statement posted on social media.

The new strikes were announced just hours after the fourth consecutive nighttime assault, with the pace of attacks increasing since President Trump declared the ceasefire over on July 8.

The latest round of overnight U.S. airstrikes on Iran injured more than 260 people, an Iranian health ministry official said Wednesday.

The comment by Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesperson for the ministry, did not include fatality statistics.

In a separate statement, an Iranian government spokesperson claimed at least 30 people were killed in “recent days,” without specifying exact dates.

The Kuwaiti military said early Wednesday morning local time it is confronting “hostile drone attacks” from Iran, hours after announcing it had shot down dozens of drones and missiles and reporting an Iranian strike on a Kuwaiti warship.

Bahrain also said its alert sirens were sounding.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s army said Wednesday it had shot down three missiles from Iran, as Tehran pressed attacks on U.S. allies in response to American strikes.

The U.S. military reimposed a naval blockade on Iran and intensified its airstrike campaign early Wednesday.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Wednesday morning it had completed a seven-hour wave of attacks across Iran “to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews.”

Days of retaliatory strikes across the Middle East by Iran and the U.S., and both nations’ attempts to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz, threaten to push the region back to all-out war.

U.S. Central Command said it struck dozens of Iranian targets over the course of seven hours Tuesday evening, including missile and drone sites and “coastal defense systems.”

The goal was to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews,” CENTCOM said in a post on X after the strikes were completed.

CENTCOM has struck Iran for four consecutive nights.

President Trump told Fox News the U.S.’s strikes against Iran could get “really bad” next week, with attacks on Iranian bridges and power plants.

“We’re going to hit them very hard tonight. We’re going to hit them very hard tomorrow night. We’re going to hit them very hard the night after,” he said. “And then next week, it gets really bad for them, because next week comes the power plants, next week comes the bridges.”

The president continued: “We’re going to knock out all their power plants, we’re going to knock out all their bridges. Unless they get to the table and negotiate.”

Mr. Trump has threatened to hit Iranian bridges and power plants in the past. Experts say attacks on civilian infrastructure can constitute a war crime, though the Trump administration has said it will hit legitimate targets used by the military.

The president also told Fox News’ Trey Yingst his representatives delivered a message to Iran earlier Tuesday, urging them to “make a deal.”

“We’re being very careful with the civilian population, as you know. But I said, ‘You better make a deal, you’re not going to have anything left,'” he said.