Middle East — 2026-07-15

US Strikes Greater Tunb Island and Reimposes Naval Blockade on Iran as Hormuz Fighting Intensifies

BLUFTrump's public commitment to strike bridges and power plants will likely materialize by July 22, shifting the campaign from military degradation to economic coercion aimed at forcing Tehran's hand.

The US reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports, first imposed in April and lifted last month under an interim deal that set a 60-day window for nuclear talks, and intensified airstrikes Wednesday as those talks stalled, hitting defense and missile sites on Greater Tunb Island and a barracks in Bampour, Sistan and Baluchestan province, for Iran's 388th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, killing at least seven troops there in a strike using at least 13 missiles 12. Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said more than 30 people had been killed in the strikes in recent days, and Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said over 260 were wounded overnight alone 12. The Hill, citing Kermanpour, reported a first overall toll of more than 35 killed and over 300 wounded, including 72 hospitalized 3. Central Command said it redirected two commercial vessels attempting to run the blockade within 17 hours of its reimposition, and Iran's Revolutionary Guard threatened to halt all Middle East energy exports 123. Brent crude traded above $85 a barrel Wednesday, and Trump told Fox News additional US strikes were coming, warning bridges and power plants could be hit next week absent a deal 12.

Analysis
Washington's shift from naval interdiction to threatened strikes on bridges and power plants extends the campaign from Iran's coastline into its domestic economic infrastructure, a target-set expansion likely to materialize by July 22 given Trump's explicit two-day commitment and this week's demonstrated willingness to hit dual-use civilian targets, raising Tehran's economic cost of continued resistance while narrowing the negotiating space Trump says he still wants to preserve. Confidence is moderate: strike patterns and Trump's public threat are directly observable, but Tehran's response to the blockade remains unresolved, and reporting rests on a single Associated Press dispatch amplified rather than independently verified by other outlets. Enforcement has moved from threatened to active, with two vessels redirected within 17 hours and Iran issuing its first consolidated casualty toll. The strikes may instead function as coercive leverage toward a deal rather than an unconstrained war's opening phase; absent strikes on the grid or transport network by July 22, the diplomatic track remains the more credible near-term path and premature hedging on extended strait closure is unwarranted.

3 sources

U.S. reimposes naval blockade as strikes intensify and Iran threatens to stop all Mideast energy exports - Fortune
U.S. reimposes blockade and steps up strikes as Iran threatens to halt all energy exports from the region - Associated Press (via PBS NewsHour)
Iran threatens to halt Mideast energy exports after US reimposes a blockade and intensifies strikes - The Hill