US Central Command said the Strait of Hormuz remained open to commercial traffic, contradicting Iran's Revolutionary Guard after it declared the waterway closed and announced attacks on two tankers attempting to pass.
Iran's navy said it targeted the oil vessels, but the supplied live report did not provide their names, crew status or independently verified damage. Central Command posted that shipping continued in both directions and rejected the Guard's authority to shut an international passage.
The competing declarations emerged during renewed US-Iran fighting. Central Command said American forces completed additional attacks on Iranian military surveillance, communications and air-defence systems at the president's direction. Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy units used precision weapons against sites the command said threatened US forces and merchant ships.
Iranian media reported retaliation against American bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. The Revolutionary Guard claimed it destroyed 18 targets, including Kuwait's Ahmad Al Jaber and Ali Al Salem installations, together with Bahrain's Isa Air Base. Those damage claims were not independently confirmed in the packet.
The regional effects extended into civilian aviation. Kuwait temporarily shut its airspace and diverted flights while its military reported intercepting hostile aerial targets. The civil aviation authority later reopened the airspace and restored normal operations after assessing that the immediate conditions had eased.
The US embassy in Jordan also advised people to shelter while missiles, drones or rockets were reported overhead. Such precautions showed how the conflict around Hormuz and military bases affected countries beyond the two principal belligerents, even when local governments were not declaring themselves parties to the war.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth framed the strikes as supporting both force protection and diplomacy, saying Washington remained prepared to negotiate. President Donald Trump told a television reporter that attacks would soon stop after direct contact with Iranian officials, while threatening further bombing if Iran rejected an American proposal.
Legal openness and practical safety are different questions. Central Command's statement opposed Iran's formal closure claim, but attacks on tankers and projectiles across nearby states could still deter ship owners, crews and insurers. A channel can remain navigable under international law while traffic falls because risks become commercially unacceptable.
The report did not supply independent ship-tracking data to quantify movements that night. It therefore supported the US assertion that vessels were transiting and Iran's contrary announcement, not a comprehensive measurement of traffic.
Restoring dependable passage would require more than competing social-media posts: attacks on commercial ships would have to stop, maritime instructions would need to be consistent and regional military exchanges would need to subside.
