Late on Tuesday, US Central Command launched its eleventh consecutive night of strikes against Iran, targeting military operations centres, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities, and maritime infrastructure across the country. Explosions were reported in at least five locations — Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Tehran, and Bushehr, where Iran's only nuclear power plant stands. Iranian state media confirmed that air-defence systems were activated in the capital. The stated American justification centres on the Strait of Hormuz.

Centcom accused Iranian forces of attacking more than 30 commercial vessels in the waterway over the past three months, calling the incidents "unwarranted" and warning that hundreds of mariners had been put at risk. Despite the bombardment, Washington insisted the strait remained open to commercial traffic — a claim that carries enormous weight, since roughly one-fifth of the world's traded oil passes through that narrow channel every day. The conflict is now spreading well beyond Iran's borders. Kuwait reported that its air defences were engaged against Iranian drone attacks early on Wednesday morning; Bahrain and Jordan said they had intercepted drone and missile strikes as well.

In Yemen, the Iran-backed Houthi movement declared it was closing the Bab al-Mandab Strait — the Red Sea's southern gateway — to Saudi shipping, prompting Trump to threaten military action against the group too. The sharpest escalation, however, came from Trump himself. Speaking at the White House alongside Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, he named "Pickaxe Mountain" — a suspected undeclared enrichment site near Natanz — as the next target.