US intensifies strikes on Iran as Tehran retaliates against Gulf States
By The Guardian, July 16, 2026The US has intensified its attacks on Iran, hitting targets near Tehran and striking a ship it accused of trying to break its blockade, while Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at US allies in the region.
Six consecutive days of back-and-forth attacks threaten to pull the region back into a total war and cast serious doubt about an interim deal reached last month meant to achieve a permanent peace.
The attacks have been accompanied by escalating rhetoric from both sides, as the US enforced its naval blockade and Iran said it had shut the strait of Hormuz, which before the conflict handled about a fifth of global oil and gas exports.
Iran asked its allies in Yemen, the Houthis, to be prepared to close the oil route through the Red Sea if the US targeted Iranian energy infrastructure, Reuters reported – a threat that, if followed through, could paralyse the global energy market.
Key target facilities
The Houthi leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, also threatened that all Saudi oil and other critical facilities could be targeted by the group if Riyadh intervened in Yemen.
The threat came after Saudi struck Sanaa airport, leading to retaliatory missile strikes from the Houthis on Saudi Arabia.
The US launched its latest wave of strikes on Iran early on Thursday, hitting areas around Tehran for the first time in the current round of fighting, as well as striking other provinces, Iranian state media reported.
Iranian media reported US missiles also hit locations near the port city of Bandar Abbas, as well as Qeshm island where drones and missiles are stored, late on Thursday afternoon.
The US also said it fired on a tanker sailing towards Kharg island, Iran’s biggest oil export terminal. US Central Command said a Hellfire missile was fired at the ship after it “ignored multiple warnings”.
The US also said it fired on a tanker sailing towards Kharg island, Iran’s biggest oil export terminal. US Central Command said a Hellfire missile was fired at the ship after it “ignored multiple warnings”.
US attacks had killed more than 35 people and wounded more than 300 others in recent days, Iranian authorities said.Tehran accused the US of carrying out a “barbaric attack” after a cancer hospital in south-west Iran was evacuated because of strikes nearby.
“This barbaric attack, reminiscent of Israel’s atrocities against healthcare facilities, caused severe suffering and anxiety upon the hospitalised children,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on X.
Esmaeil Baghaei added that “211 patients undergoing chemotherapy” were evacuated.Iran responded on Thursday with missiles and drones targeting Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, which host US bases.
Overnight drone attack on Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraq’s prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, also said there was an overnight drone attack on the city of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The attack, which was intercepted, came as al-Zaidi pledged during a trip to the US to disarm non-state armed groups.
Iraqi authorities also briefly suspended crude oil loading at all of its terminals on Thursday after a drone crashed into an oil tanker in Basra without causing damage, Reuters reported.
Crude oil loading resumed later in the day.
Iran warned that it could expand its attacks in the region in response to comments from Donald Trump, the US president, that he could strike power plants, bridges and a nuclear facility.