Trump Orders Fresh Strikes, Southern Iran Rocked by Multiple Explosions

United States President Donald Trump has ordered a new strike against Iran. He also warned of something “far worse” if Tehran continues to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

As reported by AFP on Thursday (9/7/2026), Iranian state media reported explosions at several locations along Iran’s southern coast, after US Central Command announced a new wave of strikes.

Fighter jets were heard over Kish Island and explosions shook the port cities of Bandar Abbas, Konarak and Chabahar, some of which lost electricity, according to Iran’s official news agency, IRNA.

“This is in retaliation for the bombing of ships yesterday by Iran,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “If it happens again, it will be far worse!”

While ordering retaliation against Tehran, the US president said earlier on Wednesday that he expected this latest military escalation to end soon and open the door to further talks.

CENTCOM said the strikes were carried out to degrade the ability of Iranian forces “to threaten freedom of navigation” in the strait, which normally carries one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.

“The United States holds Iran accountable for its recent unprovoked aggression against commercial shipping,” CENTCOM said on X.

Before ordering the latest strikes, Trump said the ceasefire with Iran had ended, prompting mediators Pakistan and Qatar as well as the United Nations to call for de-escalation.

The Strait of Hormuz remains a flashpoint in the Middle East conflict, which began on 28 February with a US-Israeli attack that killed Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, who is due to be buried in his home city of Mashhad on Thursday.

Since that attack, Tehran has insisted on controlling the strait, saying it will impose fees on shipping and threatening to attack vessels that deviate from authorised routes.

The Iranian military has attacked at least three ships in recent days, triggering a massive US strike on Iranian targets on Tuesday, followed by Iranian retaliation against Gulf states.

“We will hit them hard tonight,” Trump said at the NATO summit in Ankara. “They violate the agreement every day.”

However, he added later that “whatever happens will end soon.”

Oil prices surged eight per cent after Trump’s earlier remarks that the ceasefire had “ended.”