US strikes Iran for 11th night as Hormuz conflict derails ceasefire talks

The US struck Iran for an 11th straight night as Pakistan tried to revive collapsed ceasefire talks. The fighting around the Strait of Hormuz is lifting oil prices and widening risks across the region.

In Short

• Pakistan hosted Iran's minister as Islamabad pushed to restore failed truce
• Trump rejected talks for now and warned of strikes near nuclear sites
• Iran threatened wider retaliation if sensitive facilities or allies come under attack

The US military launched an 11th straight night of strikes on Iran early Wednesday, even as diplomatic efforts in Pakistan struggled to revive an interim ceasefire that has collapsed. The fighting has increasingly centred on the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global energy supplies.

As airstrikes, shipping attacks and cross-border missile and drone fire continued across the Middle East, President Donald Trump signalled that the US campaign could intensify. He also said Washington had "no interest in meeting" Iranian officials for now, as the conflict pushed up oil prices and further disrupted regional shipping.

Before the latest strikes, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan, which has been a key mediator in the conflict. According to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were held behind closed doors, Momeni met Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and later Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. In a statement, Sharif expressed deep concern over the recent US-Iran escalation and urged all sides to exercise restraint and avoid actions that could further destabilise the region. Pakistan's political leadership and Munir had played a key role in brokering last month's interim agreement between the US and Iran, and Islamabad has been trying to bring both sides back to the negotiating table.

Trump told reporters that Iranian officials "want to desperately meet. And until they're ready to meet in a meaningful way, we have no interest in meeting." He said the US would soon target the area near Pickaxe Mountain, a fortified underground site near one of Iran's main nuclear enrichment facilities. Iranian military leaders warned that any attack on nuclear or "other sensitive facilities" would be a major escalation. In a statement carried by Iranian state media, the armed forces' Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said, "We declare that if the invading and terrorist military of that country enters such a phase, we will regard it as an expansion of the war across the region, and all interests of the United States, its allies, and its supporters will become targets of powerful attacks by the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran." Deep mistrust remains on both sides. Iran was hit by a surprise attack in June 2025 and again in February while it was in nuclear negotiations with the US, and the interim deal later fell apart when Iran resumed attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which was meant to be reopened under the agreement.

With negotiations and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz largely stalled, both sides have sought leverage by striking civilian infrastructure used by millions of people across the region. A barrage of US strikes has not loosened Iran's hold on the strait, through which about one-fifth of the world's crude oil and natural gas had passed before the war. The US continued airstrikes on Tuesday, while Iran attacked a tanker in the strait, forcing its crew to abandon the vessel, and also kept up attacks on US allies in the region. Sirens sounded in Bahrain and Kuwait over incoming projectiles.

The escalation drove energy prices higher. The international benchmark for crude traded above USD 91 a barrel on Tuesday, while regular petrol in the US rose to an average of USD 4 a gallon. With US midterm elections approaching in the fall, polls have shown the war is unpopular with Americans, who have faced higher fuel prices and mounting casualties. A US official told The Associated Press that the number of wounded US personnel in the Iran war had risen to well over 500 troops, higher than the Pentagon's official figure of 482 on the Defense Casualty Analysis System. The official, who was not authorised to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the reporting system has a significant lag and that this was due to its design and was not intentional.

In the Red Sea, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen opened a new front by declaring a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia, threatening global oil supplies and trade. With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, Saudi Arabia has been relying on a pipeline to the Red Sea to send millions of barrels of oil to market. SABA, a Houthi-run news agency in Yemen, said six ships in the Red Sea were forced to reroute after receiving warnings from the group, though The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the claim. Three Houthi officials also said the group warned international shipping companies on Monday to avoid travelling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command said on Tuesday that it had targeted "Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and air defense systems" and released more footage of strikes inside Iran. It said, "American forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression toward civilian mariners seeking to freely and openly transit the strait." Iranian state media reported explosions in Fars, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, and Sistan and Baluchistan provinces.

The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said a tanker was attacked early Tuesday in the strait off Oman, forcing the crew to abandon it. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for that attack and for two other ship attacks on Monday in the waterway. The route close to Oman's coast has been the one the US military has encouraged vessels to use to avoid Iran's control. CENTCOM said on X that, as of Tuesday, US forces had redirected eight commercial vessels and disabled one to enforce the blockade in the strait.

Iran also struck US-allied countries across the region on Tuesday. Jordan's military said it faced five drones and three missiles from Iran and that all were shot down. Bahrain sounded missile alert sirens as another Iranian barrage targeted the island kingdom, home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet. In Iraq, flights were temporarily suspended at Irbil International Airport after a wave of attacks on the capital of the semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, according to Iraq's state-run news agency. No group claimed responsibility, though both Iran and Iran-backed Iraqi militias have previously attacked the Kurdish region, where US troops are present. Kuwait said Iran struck desalination and power plants for a fourth straight day on Monday night, causing fires and damage. As around 90 per cent of Kuwait's drinking water comes from desalination, the attacks have become critical for the country. US strikes have also hit electrical equipment in Iran, while Iranian officials have said American forces targeted water facilities. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the attacks on civilian infrastructure "unacceptable" and a violation of international law.

The latest round of strikes, attacks on shipping and widening regional fallout underlined how far the conflict has spread, even as Pakistan tried to revive diplomacy. With the ceasefire in ruins, the battle over the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on civilian infrastructure remain at the centre of the crisis.

With PTI Inputs

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