US strikes targets across Iran as oil prices surge

10 Jun, 2026 21:08 / Updated 2 hours ago
CENTCOM described the new wave of attacks as self-defense against “unwarranted aggression”

The US has carried out strikes in Iran for the second consecutive day as President Donald Trump seeks to pressure Tehran into accepting his peace terms.

Explosions and impacts were reported across southern and central Iran hours after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said US Central Command (CENTCOM) “will be busy tonight.”

“Because President Trump said we will be hitting Iran hard – and we will be,” Hegseth told reporters.

The Pentagon chief said the strikes would target “key facilities” in Iran and added that Tehran “has an opportunity to make a deal” with Washington.

The hostilities marked the biggest escalation since a truce was reached in April.

Despite Trump’s insistence that the sides were close to a deal, the negotiations had stalled for weeks, with both sides accusing each other of bad faith and ceasefire violations.

Last week, Iran threatened to suspend the talks in response to Israel’s continued airstrikes in Lebanon.

Tehran’s conditions for a peace agreement include the cessation of hostilities “on all fronts,” including Lebanon, where Israel has been waging a war against Hezbollah since early March. Israel and Iran exchanged strikes on Monday.

On Wednesday, the US launched strikes in Iran in response to what it described as the downing of an American AH-64 Apache attack helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran denied responsibility for the incident and responded with a missile barrage targeting US bases in the region.

Here are the latest developments:

11 June 2026

Three Indian seafarers reported missing after a US strike on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman have been confirmed dead, New Delhi’s shipping minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, has said. Their bodies have been located and identified, he added.

“This is a profound loss to our maritime community,” the minister wrote in a post on X.

The Palau-flagged vessel, the Settebello, had 28 crew members aboard, including 24 Indian nationals, two Pakistanis, a Ukrainian, and a Russian, when it was hit on Wednesday.

US Central Command earlier confirmed carrying out a “precision” strike on the tanker, which it claimed was transporting Iranian oil in violation of the American blockade.

The Iran war subjects millions to the threat of hunger, World Food Programme (WFP) acting Executive Director Carl Skau told CNN.

“In many places, we’re already taking from the hungry to give to the starving,” he said.

Kuwait International Airport has returned to normal operations after a temporary suspension of flights caused by the exchange of fire between the US and Iran, the Gulf state’s civil aviation authority has announced.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said in a statement that it struck 18 US-linked military targets across the Middle East in response to “ceasefire violations and attacks on parts of southern Iran” by the US.

American F-15s, F-16s, and F-35s were hit with missiles at the Al-Azraq airbase in Jordan as they were preparing for launch, the IRGC claimed. Some of the aircraft have been destroyed, it added.

Two airbases in Kuwait and one in Bahrain were also struck, according to the statement.

Iranian drones have also attacked the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, it said.

Oil prices rose in early trading after the US launched airstrikes against Iran and Tehran announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz for all commercial vessels.

Benchmark Brent crude futures went up by 2.5% to $95.40 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) jumped nearly 3% to $92.63.

Majid Mousavi, commander of the aerospace forces of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), threatened to turn the entire region into “hell” for the US.

“You are making the holy Strait of Hormuz unsafe? We will turn the entire region into hell from within Iran. This is the response to America’s aggression in the region,” he said, according to Mehr News Agency.

A video reportedly shows impacts at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.

Interceptors were activated in Jordan and Kuwait after Iran vowed to strike US bases in the region.

Iranian media posted a video of what they said were missiles launched from northwestern Iran toward Jordan.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that the “additional self-defense strikes” in Iran had been completed.

CENTCOM said US forces targeted “Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense sites across Iran,” including facilities it claimed posed a threat to international shipping.

A video reportedly shows an airstrike in Karaj, a city just west of Tehran.

Iranian media also reported explosions in the northern provinces of Qazvin and Alborz.

Sepah News, the media arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said the Iranian military had responded to the renewed strikes by targeting Ali Al Salem and Ahmad Al-Jaber air bases in Kuwait, as well as Isa Air Base in Bahrain.

10 June 2026

The Iranian Central Command said the country’s armed forces “will deliver a crushing and decisive response to any aggression” by the US in the region.

US President Donald Trump threatened to “bomb the s**t out of them tomorrow night” if Iran does not sign an agreement presented by his negotiating team, according to Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst.

Yingst said Trump told him he had spoken directly with Iranian officials who asked him to “stop the bombing campaign.”

“The president said to me, ‘The bombing will stop shortly,’” Yingst said.

Press TV, however, reported that a senior Iranian official told the outlet that “Trump’s false claim that Iranian officials contacted him is a cover to evade war with Iran.”

The Iranian Central Command announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to all commercial shipping and warned that any vessel attempting to transit the waterway would be fired upon.

The strait, which normally handles around a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil and LNG trade, has remained largely closed since the US and Israel launched their bombing campaign against Iran in late February.

Oil prices surged above $93 per barrel after Trump announced plans for additional strikes on Wednesday night.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth dismissed a reporter’s question about whether strikes on bridges and other civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime.

“That’s precisely the kind of disingenuous question that I’m used to from the media, impugning the motives of the folks on our side who are incredibly professional and incredibly effective,” Hegseth said.

“We will hit them hard on our terms,” he added.

Iran earlier accused the US of destroying two water reservoirs in the southern province of Hormozgan, cutting off drinking water supplies to more than 20,000 residents.

Iranian aircraft were spotted patrolling the skies over Tehran.

Axios, citing US officials, reported that Washington hopes to use the strikes to pressure Iran into signing a peace deal on Trump’s terms.

The outlet said the US was targeting Iran’s air defenses, radar systems, and drone command-and-control units.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the US had begun carrying out “additional self-defense strikes” against multiple targets.

“The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression,” CENTCOM said.

Axios reporter Barak Ravid cited a senior US official as saying that “attacks on Iran have begun.”

More explosions were reported across southern Iran, with impacts also reported near the port of Bandar Abbas.

According to IRNA, explosions were heard in Iran’s southern Fars Province, near the Strait of Hormuz, as well as in the central city of Isfahan. Local media reported that air defenses had been activated.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that “the campaign against Iran is far from over.”

“If Iran attacks Israel, it will suffer a heavy blow like the one we delivered a few days ago. The IDF is prepared to strike Iran with great force,” he said at an awards ceremony, according to The Times of Israel.