US military says it disabled tanker trying to breach blockade amid new wave of strikes on Iran – Middle East crisis live

We’re about to shut this live page but are continuing our round-the-clock coverage of the Middle East crisis. Here’s a recap of the latest events as it turns 7am in Tehran and 11.30pm in Washington DC, and we also have a full report . Thanks for joining us.

The US military said it completed a fresh wave of evening strikes against Iranian targets on Thursday morning local time to degrade Iran’s ability to threaten ships transiting the strait of Hormuz. Targets including the southern port city of Bandar Abbas – home ⁠to key ​navy and Revolutionary Guard ​facilities ‌– while it earlier hit Greater Tunb Island, Central Command said on social media. “The U.S. military is holding Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief’s direction,” it said, referring to President Donald Trump .

The Iranian army said it targeted US military facilities in Jordan with drones on Thursday , state media reported, after the latest American strikes. It said that in response to “enemy aggression” it targeted communication systems and fuel storage facilities of the US military there using kamikaze drones, state television Irib reported.

Iranian state media earlier reported explosions in several cities including Bandar Abbas, Rask and Chabahar, while earlier reports also cited blasts around southern sites including Qeshm and Bandar Imam Khomeini, as well as in Bushehr, home to Iran’s only civilian nuclear plant. Iranian air defences were reportedly activated in the capital, Tehran, on Thursday morning.

Iran targeted Bahrain and Kuwait with retaliatory missile and drone fire early on Thursday.

The latest US strikes hit an Iranian army barracks, killed at least seven troops and wounded hundreds of people across the country, according to Iranian officials. There was no immediate word on damage or casualties from Iran’s strikes, but its health ministry said at least 30 people had been killed in southern Iran in US attacks in recent days and more than 260 people injured.

Centcom said US aircraft fired missiles into an oil tanker’s smokestack in the strait of Hormuz, disabling the vessel. It said the Belma ignored multiple warnings as it attempted to violate the US blockade.

Trump ⁠said ⁠he did not ​like giving deadlines ⁠when asked by ⁠reporters if Tehran ‌had a ‌deadline before the US started attacking Iranian bridges, as threatened. “I ‌don’t like giving ​deadlines, but they pretty ⁠much know, they know ​the story ... ​they ​better ​behave.”

Iran’s top negotiator, ⁠Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said that ⁠if Iran ⁠did ​not benefit from its memorandum of ⁠understanding with the US, “we have no reason ⁠to adhere to such an ​understanding”. Iran had “never welcomed war, nor do we now”, the parliamentary speaker said on Telegram. He called on Iranians to continue with their armed resistance, but to also “use the tools of diplomacy and negotiation to achieve and consolidate national interests”.

Trump thanked Iran for allowing an American citizen he says was “wrongfully detained in December of 2024” to leave the country . “She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition,” he said, while the woman was named by her lawyer as Dena Karari, a dual American and Iranian citizen.