Mohammad Akbarzadeh, an official with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, announced on Wednesday that Iranian forces had established “complete control” over the Strait of Hormuz. “Currently, the Strait of Hormuz is under the complete control of the Islamic Republic’s Navy,” Akbarzadeh stated. The IRGC issued a warning that any vessels attempting to pass through the crucial shipping route risked damage from missiles or stray drones.
The strait serves as a vital passage for global oil and gas supplies, with approximately one-fifth of the world’s petroleum shipments passing through its waters. The claim of control came as U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that the U.S. Navy stood ready to escort oil tankers through the route.
Israel conducted coordinated attacks on targets in Tehran and Beirut on Tuesday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported striking Iranian military sites and facilities linked to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group based in Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on Fox News for an interview with Sean Hannity, where he rejected concerns about an “endless war” and claimed the conflict would lead to peace and democracy in Iran.
Admiral Brad Cooper, leader of U.S. Central Command, released a video statement on Tuesday detailing the scale of military operations. “We have severely degraded Iran’s air defences and destroyed hundreds of Iran’s ballistic missiles, launchers and drones,” Cooper said. He added that nearly 2,000 targets had been struck in the first 100 hours of operations, a scale he described as nearly double that of the 2003 “shock and awe” campaign in Iraq.
Iran responded to the strikes by launching more than 40 missiles at U.S. and Israeli targets, according to the IRGC. Furthermore, Iranian forces targeted multiple U.S. diplomatic facilities across the region. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait sustained damage from a drone attack, prompting the State Department to close the facility. The U.S. Consulate in Dubai also reported a drone strike that caused a fire in a parking lot.
The conflict spilled over into neighboring Gulf states. Bahrain reported a drone strike on a high-rise residential building. Dubai International Airport sustained damage from an attack early Sunday. Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that civilian infrastructure had been targeted and urged residents to remain indoors.
The conflict began on Saturday with U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader. Iran announced a three-day state funeral starting Wednesday evening. Following this announcement, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that any successor to Khamenei would become a “target for assassination.”
The attack on the Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for selecting the new supreme leader, complicated succession plans. Israel confirmed it bombed a building used by the assembly in the holy city of Qom, though an Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity stated the goal was destruction of the building rather than killing the 88 religious scholars who comprise the assembly.
The human toll of the conflict continued to rise. Iran reported that more than 160 students died in a strike on a girls’ school in the southern city of Minab on the first day of the war. The Lebanese Health Ministry stated that Israeli attacks killed at least 40 people and wounded 246 in Lebanon over two days, including seven children.
The United Nations human rights office called for an investigation into the school strike in Minab. “The onus is on the forces that carried out the attack to investigate it,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the U.N. human rights office.
Global markets responded sharply to the expanding conflict. Asian stock markets experienced significant declines, with Seoul shares dropping more than 12 percent. The Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock exchanges reopened Wednesday after a two-day suspension, with Dubai’s bourse falling 4.7 percent and Abu Dhabi’s ADX declining 3.5 percent.
U.S. crude oil prices rose 7.5 percent, bringing total increases since Sunday to more than 13 percent and reaching the highest levels since January 2025. Futures indicated the S&P 500 would drop 2 percent at opening, while Dow futures pointed to a potential 970-point decline.
Admiral Cooper reported that 17 Iranian navy vessels, including a submarine, had been destroyed since operations began. He stated that U.S. and Israeli forces, including Central Command’s Scorpion Strike drone task force, had established dominance over Iranian airspace.
President Trump wrote on Truth Social that it was “too late” for negotiations with Iran. “Their air defense, Air Force, Navy, and Leadership is gone,” Trump posted. “They want to talk. I said ‘Too Late!'” This statement followed public rejection of talks by Ali Larijani, Iran’s top national security official, who dismissed the possibility of negotiations after Khamenei’s killing.
The Pentagon identified four U.S. soldiers killed in a drone attack in Kuwait. The soldiers, assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command based in Des Moines, brought the total number of U.S. service members killed in the conflict to six.
