A fresh round of attacks by the U.S. on Sunday was the latest volley in a familiar pattern of back-and-forth strikes fueled by disputes over the Strait of Hormuz.

 

Live Updates: Cease-Fire Unraveling as U.S. and Iran Trade Strikes Again

A fresh round of attacks by the U.S. on Sunday was the latest volley in a familiar pattern of back-and-forth strikes fueled by disputes over the Strait of Hormuz.

 

July 12, 2026, 11:04 p.m. ET11 minutes ago

Eric Schmitt Aaron Boxerman Erica L. Green Sanam Mahoozi and Hari Raj

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/07/12/us/iran-war-trump-hormuz

 

Here’s the latest.

The U.S. military said late Sunday that it had struck dozens of military targets in Iran, extending a pattern of attacks by the two sides as their cease-fire continued to unravel. It was the second volley of U.S. attacks within hours that were intended to stymie Iran’s ability to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

 

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said that its retaliation against the United States was ongoing, without offering details. Shortly before that, the authorities in Bahrain said that warning sirens had been activated and urged people to go to a safe location, though it did not say what had set off the alerts. Iran has repeatedly fired on Bahrain and other Persian Gulf states that host U.S. military sites in what it says is retaliation for American attacks.

 

A week of back-and-forth strikes has left the U.S.-Iran truce in tatters as the two sides tussle over control of the Strait of Hormuz, which has long been vital to the global energy trade. Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesman, said that Iranian forces had fired on commercial shipping in the strait around the time that the latest wave of U.S. attacks began, demonstrating the need for the U.S. offensive. The U.S. shot down a missile and a one-way attack drone that had been aimed at commercial shipping in the strait, he added in a text message.

 

An Iranian attack on a Cypriot-flagged container ship on Saturday set off the latest hostilities. Iran also said it was closing the strait, through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply passed before the war.

 

That attack prompted a heavy barrage of U.S. strikes on Iran that was followed by Iran firing on U.S.-allied Arab states in the Persian Gulf. U.S. Central Command said earlier Sunday that there had been no reports of service member deaths or injuries.

 

The Trump administration has said that the truce struck last month would fully lift Tehran’s blockade of the strait and allow for the free movement of commercial vessels. But Iran has insisted that all ships transiting the waterway travel through its territorial waters, as it seeks to use the strait as leverage in peace talks.

 

President Trump insisted in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that the strait was open to shipping traffic, adding that the U.S. had “bombed the hell” out of Iran the night before.

 

Here’s what else to know:

 

Trading fire: The U.S. military has said it has hit about 300 targets in Iran since the flare-up in hostilities began last week, including about 170 during a two-day barrage on Wednesday and Thursday. Iran has said little about the damage, though its state news agency reported on Monday that one person had been killed in U.S. strikes in the southwestern city of Mahshahr. Iran said it had targeted American military assets in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.

 

Negotiations: Mr. Trump suggested on Sunday that the two sides had been close to a deal over the weekend, before the attack on the ship, but offered no details. Iran has not said that it had agreed to any new deal, and Mr. Trump has often made unsubstantiated claims about the war. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr. Trump’s remarks.

 

Market volatility: The benchmark global oil price rose more than 4 percent after markets opened on Sunday to nearly $79 a barrel, up 9 percent from its price before the United States and Israel began attacking Iran on Feb. 28.

 

Calls for restraint: The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, warned on Sunday that “a return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences” for the region and for the global economy.