A billboard depicting U.S. President Donald Trump lying on what appears to be a coffin and bearing anti-Trump messages, including the phrase "We Kill Trump," is seen at Islamic Revolution Square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo)
Iran reported fresh U.S. strikes on July 15 on a port city that hosts the country’s only civilian nuclear plant, as Washington reimposed a naval blockade and the two foes returned to open hostilities.
Nearly a month after the United States and Iran signed an interim memorandum aimed at ending the conflict, the sides resumed strikes on targets across the region.
At the center of the renewed fighting is the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil and gas shipments.
Iran had blocked the waterway after the United States and Israel launched attacks on the country on Feb. 28, using it as leverage before briefly reopening it.
The United States has now reimposed its blockade on Iranian ports, while President Donald Trump dropped a planned 20 percent levy on ships using the strait.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the renewed U.S. blockade had “in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum,” referring to the interim deal reached last month.
U.S. Central Command said it struck dozens of Iranian military targets near the strait and elsewhere along Iran’s coast to weaken Tehran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping.
Iranian state media reported explosions near Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island and Bandar Imam Khomeini. It later said fresh U.S. strikes hit Bushehr, home to Iran’s only civilian nuclear plant.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. Jordan’s armed forces said they downed three Iranian missiles, while Kuwait said one of its naval vessels was struck in an Iranian missile and drone barrage, wounding four crew members.
Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, said Iran had targeted civilians across the region over the past week by attacking seven commercial ships, leaving nearly a dozen civilian crew members killed, missing or injured.
“U.S. forces are holding Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression that continues to endanger innocent lives,” Cooper said.
The Revolutionary Guards said their operations would continue and that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the United States ended what they called its aggression.
Trump warned that U.S. strikes could expand unless Tehran returned to negotiations.
“Next week it gets really bad for them,” he told Fox News, saying power plants and bridges could become targets.
Trump also said he had scrapped the proposed Hormuz fee after talks with Gulf leaders.
“I have decided to replace the 20 percent United States Reimbursement Fee with trade and investment deals that the various Gulf states will be making into the United States,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Iran said renewed U.S. attacks had killed at least 30 people, while the military said seven personnel were killed in strikes in the southeast.
Israel, which has not rejoined the latest round of fighting, also warned Tehran against attacking it.
“Do not count on things remaining quiet if you attack us,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
