Swapna Venugopal RamaswamyMichael LoriaUSA TODAY
July 13, 2026Updated July 14, 2026, 7:55 a.m. ET
The United States launched a new round of strikes on Iran on July 13, marking the third consecutive day of attacks as America seeks to secure the pivotal Strait of Hormuz and after President Donald Trump declared the long-fragile ceasefire over.
The strikes, which began at 4:45 p.m. ET, will “continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the U.S. Central Command said in a post on X.
Central Command, the arm of the military that oversees operations in the Middle East, said the strikes concluded at around 10:15 p.m. ET, or about 5:45 a.m. in Tehran. U.S. officials said they struck military targets along the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Gulf of Oman.
According to Central Command, over 50,000 troops remain stationed in the region and are “vigilant, lethal, and ready.”
Iranian military officials, in turn, said they struck U.S. military targets in Bahrain, including soldiers’ housing, weapons storage facilities and satellite communications, state media in Iran reported. USA TODAY reached out to the Pentagon for confirmation.
Trump: ‘We’re taking over the strait. They’ve got nothing’
The back-and-forth strikes came after Trump said earlier in the day that the United States is reinstating a naval blockade on Iran and would act as a “guardian” of the critical waterway. He added that America would charge countries a fee of 20% of the value of all cargo shipped to cover “any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World.”
“We’re taking over the strait. They’ve got nothing,” Trump said in a July 13 phone interview with Fox News, arguing that the United States would be “reimbursed” by other Middle Eastern countries for operating the strait, a key corridor for oil shipments in the region.
U.S. and Iranian officials signed a preliminary peace agreement last month to end the war that began on Feb. 28. The memorandum of understanding called for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and launched further negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program and U.S. sanctions.
A previous blockade on Iran’s ports was also lifted in June before the agreement fell apart.
Trump on July 13 also appeared on the Hugh Hewitt radio show to discuss the U.S.-Iran conflict, saying that the United States was preparing to attack the Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site.
“We’re going to take out Pickaxe Mountain. Tell the Iranians to be ready,” Trump said during the interview.”We’re watching it closely. We see no activity there. They’re not doing well with their nuclear situation. Every time we hear about it, we blow it up,” said Trump. “So they don’t like talking about it. But we’ll probably give Pickaxe a shot relatively soon.”
Contributing: Joey Garrison and Zac Anderson, USA TODAY
