Latest developments in US-Iran war

The United States struck Iran and Tehran hit back at U.S. allies in the Gulf, as the foes battled over the vital Strait of Hormuz in the renewed Middle East war.

Here are the latest developments on Friday, July 17, 2026:

Iran reports 38 killed

Iran’s health ministry said 38 people had been killed and more than 400 injured in US strikes since June 22.

China, Pakistan appeal

China’s and Pakistan’s foreign ministers called on the United States and Iran to end fighting and return to the negotiating table, after meeting in Shanghai.

US radar sites ‘destroyed’

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had “targeted and destroyed” two radar sites belonging to the United States in Oman, one used for maritime surveillance and one for air surveillance.

Gulf states targeted

Jordan’s military said it had shot down three Iranian missiles, reporting no casualties or damage.

Iran meanwhile said it had targeted US military infrastructure in Kuwait, which said it was responding to missile and drone attacks. Bahrain and Qatar also reported attacks early Friday, with the Qatari defence ministry saying it had intercepted a missile attack.

Iran attacks Syria base

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked the Al-Tanf military base in Syria.

“The IRGC announces a surprise attack on the enemy’s Special Operations Command Center in Syria’s Al-Tanf region in retaliation for the blood of the martyred Iranian soldiers in Iranshahr,” the state broadcaster wrote on Telegram.

US forces board ship

American forces boarded a ship in the Gulf of Oman as part of Washington’s renewed blockade of Iranian ports, the US military said.

US Central Command also said it had “redirected” three vessels trying to circumvent the blockade since it went back into effect amid renewed fighting.

Oil prices rise over Iran’s threat to close Red Sea

Iran infrastructure targeted

Iranian state TV reported two explosions in the city of Bushehr, home to Iran’s only civilian nuclear plant.

Iranian state media also reported US strikes on an airport, a railway station in the port city of Bandar Abbas and two bridges in southern Iran near the Strait of Hormuz, with three people killed.

New US strikes

US forces launched strikes against Iran for a sixth night in a row, the US military said.

The strikes – which began at 1800 GMT – were carried out to “further degrade Iranian military capabilities”, US Central Command said in a post on X.

Ship struck off Iraq

A drone struck a ship off the port in Iraq’s southern province of Basra, a security official told AFP, while the country’s oil ministry said an unspecified object had fallen near a tanker.

The official disclosed that a drone had struck a ship “carrying American-branded cars” near an oil terminal after it arrived from the United Arab Emirates.

Trump ‘open to diplomacy’

US President Donald Trump remains open to diplomacy with Iran, the White House said, adding that Washington was still talking to Tehran despite the renewal of hostilities.

“The president will hold them accountable when they turn their back on the words that they state to the United States. But he is always open to diplomacy at the very same time,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Iranian island strikes

Iranian news agencies reported that the United States had launched strikes around Iran’s Gulf island of Qeshm near the Strait of Hormuz.

The Fars news agency reported an “American missile strike in the vicinity of Qeshm”, citing local authorities. Tasnim reported that one of its correspondents had reported that locations around the island “were struck by projectiles from the American enemy”.