Smoke rises after an explosion in Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, in this Reuters screengrab from a social media video released early on July 8, 2026.
Explosions were reported in Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas, Sirik and the southeastern port city of Chabahar in the early hours of Thursday, hours after US President Donald Trump warned that the United States would be “hitting them hard tonight”.
This came as tensions remained high after US strikes carried out on Wednesday, July 8, and Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone attacks across the Gulf.
US launches additional strikes on Iran, says CENTCOM
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said early on Thursday, that US forces had launched additional strikes against Iran on the direction of President Donald Trump.
According to CENTCOM, the strikes were intended to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. The command accused Tehran of recent attacks on commercial shipping and civilian crews transiting the strategic waterway, saying the United States was holding Iran accountable for what it described as “unjustified aggression.”
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This post was last modified on July 9, 2026 2:23 am