Iran declares ‘full-scale war’ as US expands strikes

This US Marine Corps handout photograph taken on July 16, 2026, by US Central Command Public Affairs reportedly shows an Iranian flag flying behind a US Marine from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit during a verification boarding aboard M/T Wen Yao in the Gulf of Oman. American forces boarded a ship in the Gulf of Oman on July 16 as part of the renewed blockade of Iran’s ports that began earlier this week, the US military said. US Marines boarded the M/T Wen Yao “to ensure full compliance with the ongoing US naval blockade,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X.

Iran is fighting a “full-scale war” with the United States, its president said Monday, as Washington expanded its strikes across the Islamic republic including a city hosting a nuclear power plant. Iran kept up its own attacks across the region in response, with its Revolutionary Guards announcing they had hit targets in Bahrain, Jordan and Syria, while Bahrain said Tehran had targeted its air navigation systems. “The reality is that today the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in a full-scale war,” said President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to a presidency statement.

He added that “we must be realistic and accept the natural consequences of this resistance.” His comments came after state media and local authorities reported US strikes on Monday in the north and centre of the country, further than areas near the blockaded Strait of Hormuz waterway through which a fifth of world oil supplies transited prior to the war. The Middle East war resumed after a weeks-long lull prompted by an agreement signed in June, and oil prices surged to a one-month high as the foes battled to control the vital Strait of Hormuz. As its truce with the US collapsed, Tehran reimposed its blockade of the waterway, while Washington hit back by again blockading Iran’s ports.

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All of the Iranian provinces hit on Monday host military bases and air defence systems. In Bushehr, home to the country’s only operational civilian nuclear power plant, governor Mohammad Mozaffari told state news agency IRNA: “A few minutes ago, several locations in Bushehr city were hit by American enemy’s projectiles.” In East Azerbaijan province in the north, the head of the local crisis management unit Majid Farshi told IRNA that “one person was martyred and several others injured” in an attack there. Despite the latest attacks, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said diplomatic exchanges with the United States via mediators were ongoing.

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