The conflict between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other intensified on Tuesday, as air strikes and missile attacks continued across the region, raising concerns that the war could expand further and threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. President Donald Trump warned that larger strikes against Iran could follow, even as he suggested the war had “largely ended.” Trump said military operations could continue until Iran is “crushed,” while also indicating that the conflict might conclude soon, though not within the current week.
His remarks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly presented proposals for a rapid settlement during a phone call with Trump that also addressed the war in Ukraine. Tehran, however, said any negotiations must begin with a halt to what it described as aggression against the country and guarantees that such attacks would not be repeated.
Trump also voiced dissatisfaction with reports that Mojtaba Khamenei could become Iran’s next supreme leader but did not specify what action Washington might take in response.
On the battlefield, heavy air strikes resumed on several Iranian cities, including Tehran, Isfahan, and Tabriz, triggering powerful explosions shortly after Israel announced a new wave of attacks. The U.S. military said it had struck around 5,000 targets since the start of the war.
Iran responded by launching missiles toward Israel. Israeli media reported that about ten missiles targeted the northern city of Karmiel and surrounding areas in the Galilee, with some reportedly penetrating Israeli air defence systems. Israel’s Home Front Command said sirens sounded across the region.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had launched the 34th wave of attacks as part of what it called “Operation True Promise,” using missiles with warheads weighing more than one tonne and extended ranges. The weapons reportedly included the Qadr, Emad, Fattah and Khaybar missile systems, according to the statement.
The IRGC said the strikes targeted U.S. and Israeli bases and logistical centres, including Ramat David Airbase and the civilian airport in Haifa. It also claimed attacks on U.S. troop concentrations at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates and the Naval Support Activity Bahrain in the Bahrain.
Iran warned that attacks on infrastructure and civilians would not go unanswered, saying the number of potential targets it could strike was “ten times greater” than those available to its adversaries.
The conflict has increasingly spilled into Gulf countries. In Bahrain, authorities said a woman was killed and others injured after a missile struck a residential building in Manama. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched toward the Eastern Province, as well as two drones east of Al-Kharj.
In the United Arab Emirates, officials in Abu Dhabi reported a fire at a facility within the Ruwais Industrial Complex following what they described as a drone strike, adding that no injuries had been reported.
Several Gulf states condemned the attacks. Bahrain said the continued missile and drone strikes represented a “dangerous escalation and insistence on destabilising the region.” Kuwait said it had sent two identical letters to the United Nations and the United Nations Security Council for the second time regarding what it described as Iranian aggression.
In a move highlighting the growing strategic stakes, the IRGC said any Arab or European country that expels U.S. and Israeli ambassadors would be granted “full freedom” for its ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz starting Tuesday.
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council of Iran, wrote on X that the strait “will either be a passage of relief for everyone or become a choke point for those dreaming of war,” signalling that Tehran could use the vital shipping route as leverage.
Roughly one-fifth of global oil trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz, making any disruption a major threat to global energy markets.
Meanwhile, CNN reported that recovering Iran’s remaining stockpile of highly enriched uranium – believed to be stored deep underground – could require a large deployment of U.S. ground forces beyond the scope of limited special operations.
The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon spent about $5.6bn on munitions during the first two days of the military campaign against Iran, raising concerns in Congress about the potential impact on U.S. military readiness.
Inside Iran, the health ministry said more than 15,000 people had been injured since the start of what it described as the U.S.-Israeli war on the country. Authorities in Alborz Province also reported three people killed and 33 wounded in an attack on the city of Fardis, west of Tehran.