Iran War

The United States and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday evening conducted joint precision airstrikes targeting Iran-backed militias in Eastern Iraq. The strikes follow a “surprise” missile attack on a U.S. base in Jordan earlier in the day.

According to a statement from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), U.S. and Saudi fighter aircraft struck multiple logistics and weapons sites. CENTCOM described the targets as belonging to Iran-aligned groups that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had directed to carry out attacks on U.S. forces and Saudi energy infrastructure.

Tuesday’s operation was launched in response to more than 30 IRGC-directed aerial drone attacks over the preceding 72 hours. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense stated that its air defenses had intercepted and destroyed several drones launched from Iraqi territory that targeted petroleum facilities in the Eastern Province and Riyadh regions.

Saudi Arabia’s statement framed the strikes as precise and targeted actions against objectives linked to those attacks, conducted in coordination with CENTCOM, and emphasized the kingdom’s right to self-defense while stating it does not seek escalation.

Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), an umbrella organization that includes Iran-backed groups integrated into Iraq’s security structure, reported that the strikes hit headquarters and facilities in multiple locations, including Baghdad and sites in other provinces. The PMF said at least 20 of its members were killed and 32 wounded, with damage to buildings and facilities.

CENTCOM Commander and four-star Navy general Admiral Brad Cooper has identified a threat that helps Iran target U.S. bases in the Middle East: cellphone footage.

Social media posts and videos posted online are giving the Iranians clues to our activities, the commander wrote in a letter Tuesday:

Admiral Brad Cooper, in a previously unreported letter, said Iran was benefiting from being able to see the success or failure of its strikes in near real-time by searching news reports or online posts by journalists referencing “reactions, photos, and footage from the cellphones of our troops.”

“The direct, unavoidable cost of this open-source intelligence could be measured in the lives of American service members and civilian residents in targeted Gulf countries,” Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, wrote in his July 28 letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.

He called on troops to “redouble our focus on operational security,” without prescribing specific steps in the memo.

Cooper’s memo underscores the mounting tensions between real-time news reporting on the war, often aided ⁠by satellite imagery and first-person accounts, and the desire by the U.S. military to restrict any information that could aid Iran as it tries to kill and wound U.S.… https://t.co/0OBN2o1rtg

— Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) July 29, 2026

The entire situation with Iran is growing more complicated by the day; it seems. On Sunday, President Trump announced that direct hostilities against Iran would cease pending direct talks between Washington and Tehran. Now, on Monday, it seems the Iranians are only willing to speak through mediators, as they have been doing.

President Trump promptly labeled the Iranians “unbelievably duplicitous.” Well, yes; some of us have been saying that all along. When dealing with Iran, that’s something you can safely presume.

What to know about the Iran war today:

• President Trump called Iran’s leadership “unbelievably duplicitous” Monday after Iran said hours earlier it had no plans to hold direct talks with Washington, despite the U.S. leader’s claim that negotiations would start today.
• Mr. Trump said Sunday that a “deal is imminent, having to do with the Hormuz Strait and also, ultimately, the denuclearization of Iran,” after calling off strikes on Iran that he said would have been the “biggest attacks since World War II.”
• Iran’s only negotiations are with Oman, an official said Monday. The two states have had “constructive discussions” over the past week on a new, temporary route through the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command announced on Wednesday that US forces completed a twelfth consecutive night of attacks to degrade Iranian military capabilities.

In footage released by CENTCOM, Iranian military vehicles and boats are seen being blown up in airstrikes.

WATCH:

CENTCOM said in a statement,

At 10:30 p.m. ET on July 22, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces completed another round of strikes against Iran for the 12th consecutive night.

U.S. forces struck Iranian military targets including maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, and air defense assets. The strikes further degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels.

This month, American forces have targeted dozens of Iranian military sites on land while resuming a blockade against Iran at sea. As of today, CENTCOM has redirected nine commercial vessels and disabled one to prevent ships from entering or departing Iranian ports.

Good Tuesday morning.

Here is whats on President Trump’s agenda today:

8:00 AM THE PRESIDENT participates in Executive Time

10:00 AM THE PRESIDENT greets Denison University Student Athletes

11:00 AM THE PRESIDENT greets the President of the Republic of Lebanon

11:15 AM THE PRESIDENT participates in a Bilateral Meeting with the President of the Republic of Lebanon

4:00 PM THE PRESIDENT participates in a Policy Meeting

5:00 PM THE PRESIDENT greets House GOP Members

Having escalated into open hostilities on February 28, 2026, the current United States and Iran war has been going on for nearly five months. In this period, the Strait of Hormuz, the only open-ocean exit for major producers like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and the UAE has been in chokehold. The strait is the world’s most critical maritime energy chokepoint, facilitating the passage of roughly 600 billion worth of energy trade annually. According to estimates, about 1,500 vessels are stuck in the Persian Gulf, and several hundred more are stuck in the adjacent Gulf of Oman.Now according to new research, something growing on the hulls of these ships could spread worldwide when the trade resumes. The study published in Biological Invasions, was led by an international team of 24 marine scientists, led by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES), and including the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).The team cautioned that thousands of commercial vessels stranded for months in the Persian/Arabian Gulf following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz could unintentionally trigger a massive marine invasive species event. The study titled, “Closure of the Strait of Hormuz May Trigger a Bioinvasion Super-Spreader Event,” highlighted how prolonged periods at anchor allow ship hulls to accumulate dense communities of marine organisms including algae, barnacles, mussels and other invertebrates which can be transported across the globe when trade resumes.

Before the Red Sea flare-up, Trump vowed on Wednesday to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s joint military command in turn warned that if Trump’s threat against infrastructure was carried out, Iranian forces would target regional oil, gas, electricity and economic infrastructure and prevent the export of “even a single drop of oil”, Iranian state media reported.

Hours later, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reported an explosion in what it called a mined route south of the Strait of Hormuz, saying one of three oil tankers had caught fire while the other two turned back. The Guards said the strait was under their control and “completely closed”, warning that no tanker would be allowed to enter or leave without coordination with Iran.

In 12 straight days of attacks since a June ceasefire fell apart, American strikes have widened from the south to western and central areas of Iran. The US military’s Central Command said it would continue to “further degrade” Iran’s ability to threaten ship traffic.

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent is at it again, tracking down Iranian regime’s cash and grabbing or freezing it with Operation Economic Fury, the financial side of the actions against the regime.

Bessent explained how they’ve been tracking accounts all over the world, and now they’ve frozen a crypto wallet containing about $130 million linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

🚨 JUST IN: Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent drops this chilling line on the Iranian regime — he’s tracking the Ayatollah’s accounts and assets WORLDWIDE and just FROZE $130M in crypto wallets

“We found the money man for the Ayatollah! We are tracking the Ayatollah’s properties… pic.twitter.com/9Y4VT9NsO7

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 21, 2026