The United States military launched a “heavy wave” of fresh airstrikes against Iran on Wednesday, July 29, following a five night pause in direct hostilities, as the war between Washington and Tehran entered a dangerous new phase that has now pulled in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. U.S. Central Command said it had “successfully completed” the strikes by 10 p.m. ET, describing a roughly two hour operation that hit dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets across Iranian territory.
According to CENTCOM, the strikes hit military command centers, missile and drone production and storage facilities, coastal surveillance posts and maritime capabilities used by the IRGC. The renewed bombardment came a day after Iran fired ballistic missiles at American forces stationed in Jordan, an attack Jordanian air defenses largely intercepted, and after Iran struck two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the month.
The pause that preceded this latest round of strikes had briefly raised hopes that the conflict, which Trump told Congress he had restarted after peace negotiations broke down, might be cooling. Instead, the war has widened. Saudi Arabia joined U.S. operations against the Iran aligned Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, with the PMF saying at least 20 of its fighters were killed and Iran reporting four Revolutionary Guard advisers killed in the same wave of strikes.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard responded defiantly, vowing to “punish the aggressor” and warning that any country assisting the United States could face a “harsh response,” a signal aimed squarely at Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Oil markets have reacted sharply to the widening war, with crude prices climbing past 100 dollars a barrel as traders weigh the risk of disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil chokepoints.
The conflict traces back to February 28, when the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran. In the months since, Trump has steadily expanded direct American involvement, and by late July the Pentagon estimated the war had cost 7.5 billion dollars and killed 18 U.S. service members, with hundreds more wounded. Congress has pushed back against the scope of the campaign, with the House passing a war powers resolution on July 23 urging Trump to end hostilities, though the measure is not legally binding and the Senate narrowly blocked a companion resolution the same day.
Public opinion has grown increasingly wary. A Reuters and Ipsos poll conducted in July found that 79 percent of Americans expect the war to drag on, while only 37 percent said they approved of the U.S. strikes on Iran. Even so, the administration has shown no sign of scaling back operations, and CENTCOM’s latest wave of strikes suggests Washington intends to keep pressing its advantage against the IRGC’s military infrastructure.
With Jordan activating its air defenses, Saudi Arabia joining offensive operations in Iraq, and Houthi forces in Yemen continuing to target shipping in the Red Sea, the war shows every sign of drawing in more of the region rather than winding down. Analysts caution that further Iranian retaliation against U.S. partners could trigger an even broader response from Washington and its allies.
Sources: CNBC, Al Jazeera, NPR.