Here's the latest
• Trump threatens to take key Iranian island: President Donald Trump warned Thursday morning the US will hit Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT” and threatened to take Kharg Island, which handles roughly 90% of Iran’s crude exports.
• Escalation in hostilities: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted US bases in the region overnight for a second consecutive day, following US strikes across Iran. In response to the latest US strikes, Iran said the Strait of Hormuz was closed — a claim the US military rejected. A senior Iranian official told CNN in Tehran that Iran would “respond more severely” to any future attacks.
• Talks under pressure: A Qatari delegation left Tehran after negotiations with Iranian officials, a diplomatic source said. The talks, conducted in coordination with the US, lasted into the early hours of Thursday morning local time, as the US was striking Iran.
Iranians express distrust of US and doubt ceasefire will last
Residents in Tehran expressed their concerns over negotiations with the United States, accusing Washington of pursuing pressure rather than peace. Some told Reuters they fear the conflict is likely to persist.
Here's how Iran has prepared for a US attack on Kharg Island
Iran has been preparing for months for a US operation to take control of Kharg Island, which President Donald Trump threatened to attack on Thursday.
CNN reported in March, shortly after US military strikes on the island, that Iran has laid traps and moved additional military personnel and air defenses to Kharg.
Iran’s build up of its defenses has included moving additional shoulder-fired, surface-to-air guided missile systems known as MANPADs to the island, sources previously told CNN.
Iran has also laid traps on the island with anti-personnel and anti-armor mines, the sources added, including on the shoreline where US troops could possibly land if Trump ordered a ground operation.
The critical island is an economic lifeline for Iran that handles roughly 90% of the country’s crude exports. US officials and military experts have said there would be significant risks in an operation to take Kharg, including a large number of US casualties.
CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, Kylie Atwood and Tal Shalev contributed to this post.
Top Trump officials have viewed Kharg Island capture as "endgame" option
Plans for the US military to try and capture Kharg Island have been drawn up for months but continuously shelved because the operation was considered too risky, a senior Pentagon official and two administration officials told CNN.
The view inside the White House and Pentagon is that taking Kharg Island — or wiping out the island’s energy infrastructure — would effectively bankrupt Iran and diminish its capabilities to the point of it being unable to continue in the war, the administration officials said.
However, officials have also communicated to President Donald Trump that such an operation would likely require a significant number of ground troops and could potentially result in heavy US causalities.
Due to those calculations, the Pentagon and the White House have considered any moves to take Kharg Island as an “endgame” option — a last resort that could shift the balance of the war, but at a high cost, the officials said.
The US military has previously conducted multiple major air strikes on military installations on Kharg Island, but the attacks have deliberately avoided striking the island’s critical energy infrastructure.
Hormuz was already effectively closed, so what does Iran’s new warning mean?
Following last night’s US strikes on Iran, Tehran says it is tightening its grip on the Strait of Hormuz.
Since the war began, the strait had been effectively closed, with transits shrinking to a fraction of prewar levels. Until now, Iran had maintained that the waterway remained open, albeit only to ships that coordinated passage with Tehran. It now appears closed to everyone.
“Due to the tensions created by the US aggression forces in the region and the announcement by the Iranian Armed Forces last night, the #Strait_of_Hormuz will be closed until further notice,” Iran’s new Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) said on X.
Data from MarineTraffic on Thursday showed very little movement through the strait since Iran declared the waterway closed.
Data from Kpler, a trade intelligence firm, showed that some non-Iranian Mideast Gulf crude flows had recovered after an initial disruption, using dark transits, shuttle tankers and Gulf of Oman export networks. This is “a workaround now being tested by the recent kinetic escalations,” Kpler noted.
Vessels from friendly countries that had already received transit permits are being asked to wait by Iran’s strait authority, impacting the few ships that did manage to pass during the war.
Hamidreza Azizi, a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said this is “paradoxical,” as access had previously been granted to ships belonging to countries that maintain “relatively friendly – or at least manageable – relations with the Islamic Republic.”
Billy Stockwell contributed to this report.
Trump says “bigger and more powerful” strikes on Iran coming tonight
President Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran would face “more powerful” US military strikes tonight, shortly after he threatened on social media that the United States would hit the country “VERY HARD TONIGHT.”
“Yeah, there will be more bombing tonight,” Trump told Fox News in a phone interview, adding that the bombs would be “bigger, more powerful.”
He had earlier posted on Truth Social that the United States was preparing another round of military action against Iran. In the same post, Trump also threatened to take control of Kharg Island, which handles roughly 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports.
The latest warning follows multiple US airstrikes on military installations in Iran.
Trump concedes Americans might not have “the appetite” to take Iran's Kharg Island
US President Donald Trump conceded that he was not sure Americans had “the appetite” for the major military operation that would be required to take Kharg Island, as he’s mused about escalating military operations in Iran.
Trump said taking Kharg Island, a major oil hub in the Strait of Hormuz, has been his “preference” but told Fox News “I don’t know that America has the stomach, I think they’d like to see us come home.”
Trump said Iran is “dying to make a deal,” while he personally would “like to get a deal now, less than three or four weeks ago.”
US officials and military experts say there would be significant risks involved in such a ground operation, including a large number of US casualties since it would require ground troops. Then island is an economic lifeline for Iran that handles roughly 90% of the country’s crude exports.
Why Iran's Kharg Island is so significant
US President Donald Trump has just said the United States will be “taking” Iran’s Kharg Island and other Iranian oil infrastructure.
“At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
But what is Kharg Island — and why does Trump want to “take” it?
The coral outcrop off Iran’s coast is an economic lifeline for Tehran that typically handles roughly 90% of the country’s crude oil exports.
The island, around a third of the size of Manhattan, has been described by US officials as the “nexus for all the Iranian oil supply.” Its long jetties jutt into the island’s surrounding waters, which are deep enough to accommodate oil supertankers, making the island a critical site for oil distribution.
CNN has previously reported that officials have developed options for capturing Kharg Island or authorizing a bombing raid aimed at effectively wiping out its oil infrastructure. And the administration has examined the potential for taking over other strategically placed islands near the strait that might weaken Iran’s ability to threaten tankers trying to traverse the waterway.
White House officials believe taking the island would “totally bankrupt” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), CNN reported.
The US in April said it struck military targets on Kharg Island, although the strikes did not target oil facilities, according to a US official.
Trump previously said that Kharg was “not high on the list.” But as far back as 1988, decades before he was elected, he has talked about taking the island.
Trump says US will seize key Iranian oil export hub Kharg Island
President Donald Trump said Thursday morning the US will take Kharg Island and other oil infrastructure in Iran.
The tiny island in the Persian Gulf is an economic lifeline for Iran and handles roughly 90% of the country’s crude exports.
The US president also warned the military will hit Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT” as the two countries exchange fire while peace talks stall.
“The United States will be hitting Iran (Whose Navy, Air Force, Radar, Anti Aircraft, and all other forms of Defense, together with most its offensive capability, are GONE!), VERY HARD TONIGHT,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela, which is working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America,” he added.
The US and Iran traded strikes overnight with Trump warning earlier that the bombing would continue if a memorandum of understanding wasn’t reached.
Experts have argued that attempting to capture or attack Kharg Island would require a significant number of ground troops — something the Trump administration has so far been reluctant to call in.
The US military has conducted multiple major air strikes on military installations on Kharg Island, but the attacks have deliberately avoided striking the island’s critical energy infrastructure.
CNN’s Alayna Treene contributed to this report.
European Central Bank hikes interest rates for the first time since 2023
The European Central Bank raised interest rates for the first time in almost three years Thursday, as a jump in energy prices triggered by the Iran war drives inflation higher.
The ECB lifted the benchmark rate in the euro area by a quarter of a percentage point to 2.25%, becoming the first major central bank to increase borrowing costs since the war began on February 28.
“The war in the Middle East is generating inflation pressures,” the central bank said in a statement. “The outlook remains uncertain, with upside risks for inflation and downside risks for economic growth,” it added.
Inflation across the 21 countries that use the euro stood at 3.2% last month, up from 3% in April, as energy prices rose. The ECB, like other major central banks, targets an inflation rate of around 2%.
Europe depends heavily on imported fossil fuels to power its economy and is spending billions of dollars more on energy imports because of the war. Soaring energy costs threaten to derail a tentative economic recovery in the region, which only recently emerged from the energy crunch precipitated by Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Headline inflation peaked at 10.6% in the euro area in October 2022. Interest rates, meanwhile, hit a record high of 4% in September 2023, following a protracted rate-hiking campaign to tame soaring prices.
The International Monetary Fund sees euro area growth at 1.1% this year, according to an April estimate, a 0.2 percentage point downgrade from its forecast in January.
Iranian official says renewed US strikes render ceasefire "meaningless"
Recent US attacks on Iran have rendered the temporary ceasefire between Tehran and Washington “meaningless” and “ineffective,” senior Iranian officials said today.
Iran’s military has also carried out retaliatory strikes targeting US bases in the region.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also cast doubt on the status of the fragile truce.
He told EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas in a phone call today that Tehran views Washington’s recent strikes as a “clear violation” of international law, which have “rendered the ceasefire ineffective,” according to Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
In another message of condemnation, a key military advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, Mohsen Rezaei, said Washington must either accept Iran’s terms or risk losing the “last shred of its credibility in the world.” He did not specify what “terms” he was referring to.
US disables Guinea-Bissau-flagged tanker it says was transporting Iranian oil
The US military on Wednesday disabled a vessel attempting to transport Iranian oil by firing two missiles into its engine room, US Central Command announced today.
CENTCOM said the Guinea-Bissau-flagged M/T Jalveer was attempting to “transport oil from Iran through the Gulf of Oman” in violation of the US blockade.
“A U.S. aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles into the ship’s engine room after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from U.S. forces,” CENTCOM added in a post on X.
This incident marks the third time the US has disabled a vessel this week, according to the post. In total, the US has disabled nine ships and redirected 135 others.
Can Iran be bombed into submission? Experts say it can't
US President Donald Trump has renewed strikes on Iran, hoping to pressure the Islamic Republic into accepting a deal suitable for Washington. But experts warn this will have the opposite effect.
Trump said on Wednesday the US will resume attacks on Iran “very hard” after insufficient progress in negotiations to end the war. Fresh US attacks - and retaliatory strikes from Tehran - then followed.
Iran’s current leadership believes that “surviving” the US’ most intense attacks allows them to maintain some form of diplomatic leverage, he said, adding that the Islamic Republic leadership relies heavily on “a hardline, ideologically oriented constituency that views any sign of softness as capitulation.”
Ali Ahmadi, a fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and Middle East Institute Switzerland, said that having survived 39 days of war, the Iranian leadership now has more confidence in the country’s resilience.
The Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they carried out retaliatory strikes targeting US bases in the region after the US military struck Iran overnight. A senior Iranian military official later warned that Iran could turn the Middle East region “into hell” if the Strait of Hormuz is made insecure – which it proceeded to say was now closed.
“Under these circumstances, US military moves only complicate any potential concessions that the Iranian leadership may already have been prepared to make,” Azizi said.
Key mediator Pakistan urges warring parties to "end hostilities"
Pakistan, a key regional mediator, said it was “deeply concerned” by the recent escalation in the Middle East, following a second night of US strikes and Iranian retaliatory attacks.
The country’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, called on all parties to “adhere to the understanding reached on the ceasefire and end hostilities to widen the space for dialogue and diplomacy.”
In an effort to solidify the temporary ceasefire that began in April, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi attended “important meetings with Iran’s leadership” in Tehran earlier this week, Andrabi confirmed.
On another front of the current Middle East conflict, Andrabi also detailed Pakistan’s involvement in diplomatic efforts regarding the conflict in Lebanon. He said that Israel and Lebanon agreed to renew their ceasefire agreement earlier this month following “strong advocacy from Pakistan.”
This week, Lebanese Army Chief Gen. Rodolphe Haykal visited Pakistan, he added.
India calls on US to stop attacks on vessels in the Persian Gulf region
India has called on the United States to stop its “attacks” on vessels near the Strait of Hormuz after three Indian seafarers were found dead following a US strike on an Iran-linked oil tanker.
An Indian government minister previously confirmed that three Indian seafarers were found dead after the US strike in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday local time. US Central Command said a US aircraft “fired precision munitions into the ship’s engine room after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from American forces.”
India’s foreign ministry secretary, Aseem Mahajan, said today there were 28 crew members on board MT Settebello, including 24 Indian nationals. “Out of the 24 Indian nationals, 21 have been safely rescued. Unfortunately, three Indian nationals have lost their lives,” he said.
Mahajan added that another commercial vessel, MT Jalveer, a Guinea Bissau-flagged ship with 20 Indian crew members on board, also came under attack off Oman’s coast earlier today. All Indian crew are reportedly safe, he said.
War to continue unless US respects Iran's interests, senior Iranian official tells CNN
An advisor to Iran’s supreme leader has warned that the war with the United States will continue unless Washington respects Tehran’s interests.
Mohammad Mokhber told CNN in Tehran that Iran would “respond more severely and more heavily” to any future US attacks, adding that the fate of the war depends on Washington’s actions.
“Whenever they (US) attack, we respond more severely and more heavily,” he said. “(US President Donald Trump) must understand that the Islamic Republic will not back down or step back from the entirety of its independence and national interests. And we will make the aggressors regret it.”
Asked whether he believed war between Iran and the US could resume, Mokhber said the decision rests with Washington.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they carried out retaliatory strikes targeting US bases in the region after the US military struck Iran overnight.
Editor’s Note: CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government but maintains full editorial control of its reports.
Hormuz "closed until further notice," Iran's strait authority says
Due to the exchange of fire with the United States, the Strait of Hormuz “will be closed until further notice,” Iran’s new strait authority said on Thursday.
The authority added that “applicants who have received a transit permit are asked to be patient and await further guidance from the PGSA.”
After the US launched fresh strikes on Iran Wednesday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the strait will now be “closed to all vessels.”
US Central Command pushed back on the Iranian claim, saying that commercial ships continue to transit in and out of the strait – which the IRGC denied.
Tehran had previously insisted that the waterway was open, but only for ships that coordinated passage with Iranian authorities. The US has warned ship operators not to cooperate with the PGSA.
The critical waterway has been choked off for months because of the war, with visible traffic through the strait estimated to be just 15% of pre-war levels, according to JPMorgan.
Is the Strait of Hormuz open or shut? Shipping companies will decide
Iran has declared the Strait of Hormuz closed after the United States targeted air defense sites and other military assets across the country in a second night of strikes Wednesday.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened to shoot at tankers and commercial ships that attempt transit through the waterway.
The US military, however, has disputed the closure claim, saying on X that commercial ships continue to transit in and out of the strait.
So is the Strait of Hormuz open or shut? Ultimately, that call won’t be made by rulers in Tehran or Washington.
“It is not the US or even Iran who decides if the Strait of Hormuz is open or not. It is shipping companies,” Gregory Brew, a senior analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, told CNN last month during an interview discussing the long-term security of the strait.
By that measure, the strait could probably be described as effectively shut, if a little leaky.
Visible transits have collapsed to, at best, low double-digit figures from around 140 vessels a day before the war. There have been additional ‘dark’ transits through the strait, where vessels turn off transponders to avoid detection, but the point remains this: The shipping industry will ultimately determine whether the Strait of Hormuz is, in practice, open or closed to the movement of oil and other goods.
Iran condemns “blatant violation” of truce, warns regional countries
Iran has strongly condemned recent US strikes on the country, calling them a “blatant violation” of the April truce while pinning the blame for any further escalation on Washington.
In addition, the US’ continued use of military facilities in regional countries to “prepare and carry out aggressive operations against Iran has effectively placed those countries alongside the aggressors,” IRIB cited the ministry as saying.
Tehran will take “all necessary measures to neutralize threats and prevent further aggression while exercising its inherent right of self-defense against US military aggression,” the ministry added.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said earlier it carried out retaliatory attacks targeting US bases in the region amid a second night of US strikes. President Donald Trump has warned that US attacks could resume if a peace agreement isn’t reached between the two warring nations.
Jordan says it intercepted 20 missiles launched from Iran
Jordan said it had intercepted and destroyed 20 missiles launched from Iran, after Tehran said it had targeted American bases in the region in response to US strikes.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they launched retaliatory attacks targeting US military bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan early Thursday, after the US said it struck multiple targets in Iran.
Vessel carrying "essential goods" from Oman to Iran was struck by US, Iranian media says
A cargo dhow carrying “essential goods” was struck by an American projectile on its way from the city of Khasab, across the Strait of Hormuz in Oman, toward the Iranian city of Sirik, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported, citing the governor of Sirik.
It “was struck by an enemy projectile 5 nautical miles off Khasab,” Sirik governor Reza Shahidian said, according IRIB, adding that the 150-ton vessel carried five crew members who were all rescued with the help of passing vessels and transferred to Oman.
Images of the vessel shared by IRIB and other media outlets show the ship partially submerged.
In what was the second night of US strikes on Iran, the US military said it targeted surveillance, communication and air defense sites in Iran. Explosions were heard across Iran, including in a string of key locations near the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump warned US attacks could resume if a deal isn’t reached.
