US Marines Board Ship In Gulf Of Oman To Enforce 'Steel Wall' Blockade
The US military said Marines boarded a vessel in the Gulf of Oman to "conduct a verification" as part of the US blockade of Iranian ports.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the ship, the M/T Wen Yao, was boarded while transiting the waterway on July 16. The ownership of the vessel was not immediately known.
CENTCOM also said US forces also redirected three commercial vessels trying to run its blockade and disabled another ship to ensure compliance with the "steel wall" blockade.
"As of today, American forces have redirected 3 commercial vessels trying to run the blockade, disabled 1 that didn’t comply, and boarded 1 to ensure full compliance with the ongoing U.S. naval blockade against Iran," CENTCOM said on X.
The statement did not specify how the one vessel was "disabled."
The latest blockade too effect on the night of July 14-15. During the initial US blockade of Iranian ports from April 13 to June 18, US forces disabled at least nine vessels and redirected some 140, CENTCOM has said.
Iranian Media Reports US Strikes At Several Sites In South Of Country
Iranian state media early on July 17 reported explosions and attacks at several sites, although the reports could not immediately be confirmed and the US military did not specify its areas of operations.
Strikes around the Gulf island of Qeshm near the Strait of Hormuz, the focal point of the conflict in recent weeks, were reported by Iranian media.
Tasnim news agency reported that US fighter jets had attack the airport in Iranshahr, a city of about 100,000 people some 300 kilometers from the Gulf of Oman in the south of Iran.
Separately, Fars news agency said that a bridge in Bandar Khamir had been targeted in a US attack. Bandar Khamir is on the Iranian mainland across from oft-struck Qeshm Island overlooking the Strait of Hormuz
Explosions were reported in Bushehr – the city is home to Iran's only civilian nuclear plant, which state TV called a "continuation of the American enemy aggression."
Explosions in coastal Bandar Abbas and near Ahvaz, where residents told AFP that they had heard strong blasts for the second straight night.
The reports of US strikes come after the US military said it launched a new wave of air strikes on Iranian targets.
"At 2 p.m. ET today, US forces began conducting a new wave of strikes against Iran for the fifth consecutive night to further degrade Iranian military capabilities," US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on July 16.
CENTCOM did not immediately provide details of the attacks.
US Says It Is Hitting Iran Again In Fresh Wave Of Strikes
The US military said it launched a new wave of air strikes on Iranian targets despite signs of a possible move toward avoiding a full resumption of the war with Tehran's release of a US national from detention.
"At 2 p.m. ET today, US forces began conducting a new wave of strikes against Iran for the fifth consecutive night to further degrade Iranian military capabilities," US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on July 16.
Iranian media reported strikes around the Gulf island of Qeshm near the Strait of Hormuz, the focal point of the conflict in recent weeks.
Reports from around the Gulf said Tehran had launched its own attacks on targets throughout the region, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) saying it struck a US airbase in Jordan with ballistic missiles after accusing the United States of an attack near a children's cancer hospital in Iran.
Some media reports also said there were explosions in Kuwait, though the Dubai Media Office rejected the claims.
Despite fears that Washington and Tehran are on the edge of a return to a full-blown war, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on July 16 Iran continues to talk and is seeking to make a deal.
"The reason for the recent strikes over the course of the last several days is because Iran violated the memorandum of understanding that we struck with them," Leavitt said.
"Specifically, in the memorandum of understanding that they signed, they were not to fire on commercial vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz, and unfortunately they have made the tragic decision for them to do that."
Hopes the two sides may be moving toward a rapprochement were buoyed late on July 15 when Tehran allowed a US national who Washington says was "wrongfully detained" since 2024 to leave the country.
"The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran!" President Donald Trump said in a social media post.
Human rights attorney Jared Genser identified the American as Dena Karari, saying she was free after being brought up on "bogus charges."
Maritime Security Center Keeps Hormuz Threat Level At 'Severe'
Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz continued at reduced levels on July 16 despite the heightened security situation, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC), which said US-assisted transits through the strategic waterway were continuing .
The advisory said some shipping companies had delayed voyages following recent attacks, while vessels continued using both the southern Omani shipping corridor and the northern Iranian-controlled route.
The JMIC said Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps continued to harass commercial vessels through radio hailing, drone overflights, and "targeted surveillance."
The maritime security information center maintained its regional threat level at "severe," citing the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, the disabling of a vessel attempting to breach it, and the continued risk from drifting mines as well as ongoing interference with satellite navigation systems.
Iran Deal Must Put Iranians At The Center, Policy Analyst Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau Says
WASHINGTON -- As tensions between the US and Iran intensifies, with renewed military strikes and growing arguments around the Strait of Hormuz, global attention has focused on regional security, commercial shipping, and the risk of wider escalation.
But Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau, a former senior US diplomat who is currently the Bradford M. Freeman Managing Director of Global Policy at the George W. Bush Institute, argues that the most important story is unfolding inside Iran itself.
In an interview with RFE/RL, Trudeau says the daily lives, rights, and freedoms of ordinary Iranians must become a central part of any diplomatic process.
Read more here
Drone Strikes Reported At Iraq's Basra Port
Reports from Iraq say drones struck two vessels at the port of Basra.
A security official told the AFP news agency that a drone hit a ship “carrying American-branded cars” near an oil terminal on July 16. The vessel had arrived from the United Arab Emirates, the official said.
Separately, four Iraqi oil and security sources told Reuters that crude-oil loading at all Iraqi terminals had been halted after a drone struck an oil tanker at the Basra terminal.
Responding to the reports, an Iraqi Oil Ministry spokesman said crude loading at the country’s southern terminals had been temporarily suspended but later resumed. The ministry also said that officials were investigating reports that an unidentified “object” had fallen onto an oil tanker.
Iraqi sources said the incident caused no damage or fire.
With reporting by AFP and Reuters
What Is Iran's Secretive Pickaxe Mountain?
- By Kian Sharifi
Satellite images show Iran is accelerating work at a secretive nuclear-related site deep beneath Kuh-e Kolang mountain, known as Pickaxe Mountain.
Intelligence agencies suspect this is where Iran is seeking to build a secret uranium enrichment facility.
What do we know about one of the most fortified sites in Iran, which US President Donald Trump has threatened to attack?
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Claim Attacks On US Bases In Kuwait, Jordan
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) claimed in two separate statements issued on July 16 that it had struck US military bases in Kuwait and Jordan.
In one statement, the IRGC alleged that the US military had used its air bases in Jordan to launch attacks on Iran the previous night.
It said that it responded with missile strikes on "the parking apron for US fighter aircraft and the new US command-and-control center in West Asia at Jordan's Azraq Air Base."
In a second statement, the IRGC claimed it had launched a combined missile and drone attack on "the satellite communications center, early-warning radar facility at Ali Al Salem Air Base, and the US military pier at Shuaybah, Kuwait."
US Central Command (CENTCOM) has not yet responded to the IRGC's claims.
However, Jordan's state news agency, citing the country's military without providing further details, reported that eight Iranian missiles were intercepted overnight.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda
CENTCOM Says US Targeted Iranian Coastal Defenses, Missile Capabilities
The US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) said its latest strikes on Iran targeted "command centers, air defense sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities" in an effort to further degrade Tehran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
CENTCOM said in an X post late on July 15 that the nighttime attacks hit multiple locations, including the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, following earlier strikes on coastal defense and cruise missile sites on Greater Tunb Island.
Trump Says Iran Releases 'Wrongfully Detained' US Woman
(Updates to name woman released.)
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said on July 15 that Iran had allowed an American citizen who Washington says was wrongfully detained since 2004 to leave the country, calling the move a "gesture of goodwill" by Tehran.
"Iran has allowed an American Citizen, who was wrongfully detained in December of 2024...to leave the Country. She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition," Trump said in a post on Truth Social, without identifying the woman.
"The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran!" he added.
The State Department did not immediately provide additional details about the circumstances of her release, which comes as the US steps up air strikes on Iran in their almost five-month-old war.
Human rights attorney Jared Genser, however, identified the American as Dena Karari.
"I am delighted and excited to report that my client U.S. citizen #DenaKarari , who had been trapped in #Iran since December 2024 on bogus charges is now free," Genser wrote on X, thanking Trump for his efforts to free her.
Iran has neither confirmed nor denied that Karari has been released.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on June 23 that the US would continue to prioritize the release of Americans wrongfully detained overseas but declined to discuss individual cases.
"We'll always prioritize wrongfully detained Americans everywhere in the world," Rubio said. "I don't want to discuss any specific cases; that complicates them."
The State Department believes six Americans are detained in Iran.
Among those it has designated as wrongfully detained are Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh -- a former journalist for RFE/RL’s Persian-language service, Radio Farda -- and Kamran Hekmati, an Iranian-American grandfather from New York, who are being held in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison.
Trump's announcement comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran following recent conflict between the two countries.
Iran has previously held dual nationals and foreign citizens on security-related charges that the United States and rights groups say are politically motivated. They accuse Tehran of detaining foreign nationals to use as bargaining chips in diplomatic negotiations.