U.S. Central Command announced Friday night that it carried out its seventh consecutive night of strikes against Iran, as the conflict shows no signs of winding down.
“U.S. forces ended the seventh consecutive night of strikes against Iran on July 17 at 9:30 p.m. ET,” CENTCOM said in a statement. “U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) hit surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities. U.S. forces employed fighter aircraft, aerial drones, and warships in addition to other assets.”
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CENTCOM said it would continue operations “at the Commander in Chief’s direction” while enforcing a naval blockade of Iranian ports. More than 50,000 U.S. service members remain deployed across the Middle East, the statement said.
The latest strikes are part of a renewed U.S. military campaign targeting what officials describe as Iranian capabilities used to threaten commercial shipping. Fighting resumed after a ceasefire brokered last month collapsed, with both Washington and Tehran accusing the other of violating its terms.
President Donald Trump has since dismissed the now-defunct memorandum of understanding, which he had previously promoted as a pathway toward ending the war and launching negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, describing it instead as a test of Tehran’s intentions.
“It was built to test. It was a test,” Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday. “We didn’t know if it would amount to anything. It didn’t.”
Trump argued that memorandums of understanding carry little weight, particularly when negotiating with Iran.
“It’s a standard tactic in the U.S. that you go to a memorandum of understanding, and then you go to the deal,” Trump said. “I said, ‘Just go to the deal first.’”
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He added that the agreement had been reached “numerous times” but claimed Iran repeatedly failed to follow through.
On Monday, Trump announced on Truth Social that the United States was “reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE” and declared that “the U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT.’”
