United States forces began another round of attacks against Iranian military targets on Thursday, marking a thirteenth straight night of operations, according to US Central Command. The command said the strikes started at 18:45 Eastern time, or 22:45 GMT.
CENTCOM presented the mission as an effort to hold Iran responsible and reduce threats from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to merchant vessels. Iranian media reported several explosions in Ahvaz, along with blasts at Bandar Abbas and on Qeshm Island. The supplied account did not identify individual targets, casualties or damage at those locations.
The exchanges followed the breakdown of a June memorandum of understanding that had established a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran. Since that collapse, the pace of US and Iranian operations around the region had risen. Iran launched missiles and drones toward Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan as part of its response, while American forces continued hitting sites inside Iran.
President Donald Trump said he was weighing an attack larger than previous operations and that US forces were ready, but added that he had not made a final decision. He told Axios that Israel could join quickly if requested, though he said American forces did not need Israeli participation. Israel's security authorities prepared for several possible outcomes, and some municipalities opened public shelters without a nationwide change in home-front guidance.
Trump also proposed using Iranian assets controlled by the United States to compensate owners for damage to ships and cargo around the Gulf. His public statement did not describe a legal process or specify which funds could be used. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected Washington's approach and warned that further aggression would increase the cost of any eventual agreement.
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said Iran would face a severe response if it attacked Israel. Meanwhile, Iranian officials framed their operations as retaliation and warned countries hosting American forces. These competing statements reflected the risk that a confrontation centred partly on shipping routes could draw additional states and civilian infrastructure into the conflict.
CENTCOM's announcement established the start and stated objective of the latest US wave, but not its full outcome. Reports of explosions confirm activity across multiple Iranian areas without independently showing what was hit. Casualty and damage assessments were not available in the evidence, leaving the thirteenth night defined more by continued escalation than by a verified operational balance sheet.
The timing given by CENTCOM placed the opening of the new wave late on Thursday in Coordinated Universal Time. Because the command announced the operation as it began, later consequences were necessarily absent from that statement. The evidence therefore supports the sequence of escalation more firmly than any assessment of military effectiveness.
