Middle East — 2026-07-08

US Strikes Over 80 Iranian Targets After Iran Attacks Three Commercial Ships in Strait of Hormuz

BLUFIran will likely retaliate against US forces or linked assets in the region within seven days, as the scale of strikes and revoked oil waivers eliminate Tehran's remaining incentives for restraint.

US Central Command announced it completed a new round of retaliatory strikes against Iran on Tuesday, hitting more than 80 targets with precision munitions in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz 12. Struck targets included air-defense systems, command-and-control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities and more than 60 small boats belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps 3. A U.S. official told Axios President Trump approved the strike plan from Ankara, Turkey, where he was attending the NATO summit, and that the strikes were four to five times larger in scope than a prior round in the strait ten days earlier 3. The Treasury Department revoked sanctions waivers permitting Iranian oil sales shortly before the strikes 13, Iran's military vowed a "crushing response" and said it would not allow U.S. interference in the strait 3, and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused Washington of violating the memorandum of understanding 1.

Analysis
Iran will likely retaliate against US forces, personnel, or US-linked assets in the region within seven days, since the strike's scale (four to five times the prior Hormuz exchange) and Treasury's revocation of Iran's oil sanctions waivers strip away the economic restraint that had held Tehran back, and drone launches toward Bahrain the same day alongside Iran's "crushing response" vow suggest retaliation is already underway rather than merely threatened. Confidence in this judgment is high given the convergence of CENTCOM's own posture language with independently reported Iranian military statements, though the reporting itself is broad but shallow, with Axios and CNBC largely restating a shared US official and CENTCOM's release rather than adding independent detail. The strike's scale and its ordering from Trump's NATO summit meetings in Ankara suggest it doubles as a demonstration of resolve to allied leaders, not just a response tailored to the tanker attacks. Iranian retaliation against US forces would keep CENTCOM's strike posture elevated and push Hegseth's Israel consultations toward coordinating further action rather than de-escalation.

4 sources

U.S. completes strikes on multiple Iranian targets after Hormuz Strait ship attacks, Centcom says - CNBC
U.S. completes strikes on multiple Iranian targets after Hormuz Strait ship attacks, Centcom says - CNBC
U.S. strikes Iran after attacks on vessels in Strait of Hormuz - Axios
U.S. Forces Complete New Round of Retaliatory Strikes Against Iran - U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM)