US hits tanker with hellfire missiles while Iran 'targets American bases across the Gulf' as Trump 'considers expanding military operations'

The US has launched Hellfire missiles at an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command (Centcom) said it had disabled the Belma, a Curacao-flagged merchant vessel, that had been attempting to sail towards Kharg Island by firing a precision missile on Wednesday night. The US agency said that the tanker had ignored multiple warnings before its military was forced to intervene by launching missiles into the ship's smokestack. Wednesday saw the US launch a fifth night of attacks on the Strait of Hormuz as it reimposed a naval blockade of Iran's ports. Washington insists the blockade is aimed at reopening the waterway, which Iran closed last Saturday after a fragile truce collapsed. It comes amid claims that President Donald Trump is considering expanding military operations in Iran. According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump hosted a Situation Room meeting on Tuesday evening, in which he discussed using US troops to seize Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal, and other territory along the strait.The potential bombing of a tunnel complex at Pickaxe Mountain was also discussed at the meeting, which included senior officials such as Vice President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. The US has launched Hellfire missiles at an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz US Central Command (Centcom) said it had disabled the merchant vessel, that had been attempting to sail towards Kharg Island Fotage shows the moment the vessel was struckAfter the first strikes on Wednesday night, Tehran's top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf issued a statement saying: 'We are in an essential and existential war with ​America'.Iranian army spokesman Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of global oil ​and gas shipments before the war, was a 'red line' for Iran over which it maintains firm control.'The Americans thought that by ⁠attacking some of our bases on the southern coasts of the country, they could take control of this strategic strait,' Akraminia said.'However, the Islamic Republic of ​Iran has the ability to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz from every single point of its territory, and this matter is never dependent on coasts ​and islands.'Three US officials told Reuters that US strikes aimed at forcing open the strait are also targeting Iranian military capabilities that the US would want to destroy before executing more complex operations.Iran's army earlier said in reference to the strait: 'We will undoubtedly resist until the end and will neutralise American interventions in the region'.Iran's military spokesperson has said that the only way ​to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was for the US to comply with the 14-point memorandum of understanding that the two sides signed in June, and ​the implementation of 'Iranian regulations' regarding ship traffic in the strait.Trump on Tuesday threatened to hit Iranian power plants and bridges next week unless ‌Tehran resumes ⁠negotiations. A vessel at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam,Oman, July 15, 2026 This screen grab made on July 15, 2026, from a handout video released by US Central Command on July 13, 2026, shows what the US military says is a strike in Iran This screen grab taken on July 15, 2026, from video footage released by Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC)'s Sepah News website on July 14, 2026, allegedly shows a missile being launched from an undisclosed location towards US targets in Bahrain and KuwaitAkraminia said that if Trump carried out the threat, Iran's armed forces would strike 'all remaining infrastructure' across the region, and the response would be more severe, wider in scope and more destructive than previous attacks.Iran said on Thursday it had targeted US bases in Kuwait and Jordan, warning its neighbours that allowing the US to launch attacks against it would not go unanswered.'Our neighbours should know that providing a base to the Americans and allowing them to fire on Iranian soil ​is unacceptable and will not go unanswered,' ​Iran's army said in a ⁠statement.By early Thursday in the Middle East, sirens sounded in Bahrain, and Kuwait said it was responding to 'hostile drone threats'.Iran's army said it targeted the Al Azraq Air Base in Jordan with ballistic missiles, while Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they ​had destroyed the satellite communications centre and early warning radar at the Ali Al Salem Air Base, as well ​as a U.S. military ⁠pier in the Al Shuaiba area of Kuwait.The Bahraini Defence Ministry said the country's air defence systems had intercepted and destroyed some Iranian aerial attacks targeting the kingdom on Thursday.The latest escalation and Iran's threats to shut off more regional energy exports and possibly strike regional infrastructure raise the spectre of a return to full-scale ⁠war in ​the region.Analysts say Iran has signalled it may use its Houthi allies in Yemen to shut the Bab ​el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea, opening a new front against Washington and putting a second of the world's most vital energy arteries at risk.The war has killed thousands of people and displaced ​millions, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, where conflict restarted between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.