Correction, October 12, 2026: Correction: An earlier version of this article said US strikes on July 20 hit eight named Iranian cities including Tabriz, and quoted Secretary of State Marco Rubio on July 20 pledging open-ended enforcement and demanding allied burden-sharing; no source for the city list or for those remarks could be found, and Rubio’s only reported remarks from that trip were made in Manila on July 23, so both have been removed and the headline changed. Iranian state media reported explosions in five provinces. The earlier version also said three US service members were killed in Jordan on July 17-18 and that 17 had died since a campaign beginning July 6; CENTCOM said two were killed and one was missing, bringing deaths since the war began in February to 16, and the July campaign followed the ceasefire’s collapse on July 8. It said Saudi Arabia grounded 43 US warplanes under “Operation Project Freedom”; Project Freedom was a US escort operation and no report says Saudi Arabia grounded any aircraft. It said Brent broke $90 on July 20; Brent traded at nearly $90 on July 21. Unsourced claims about Oman’s “first-ever” condemnation of Iran, transit-fee figures, Saudi interceptor stocks, Hormuz traffic figures, prediction-market odds and several unverified IRGC claims have also been removed.
WASHINGTON — The United States completed its ninth consecutive night of airstrikes against Iran on July 20, with Iranian state media reporting explosions in Fars, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, and Sistan and Baluchistan provinces. CENTCOM said the strikes targeted Iranian military command centres, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air-defence systems.
The strikes came on Day 33 of the Islamabad MOU’s 60-day window, days after Mojtaba Khamenei said Trump’s signature was “utterly worthless and devoid of credibility.” Benchmark Brent crude traded at nearly $90 a barrel the following day.
Table of Contents
Where the Strikes Landed
Night 8 followed an Iranian attack that killed two US service members in Jordan on July 17. Night 9’s reported explosions spanned five provinces, from Ilam in the west to Sistan and Baluchistan in the southeast.
The strikes were aimed at weakening Iran’s military capacity to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Business Today.
How Does Night Nine Affect the MOU Timeline?
The MOU’s 60-day window — expiring approximately August 16, with 27 days remaining — passed July 20 with no military bearing on either side’s actions. An interim ceasefire deal signed a month earlier had fallen apart the week before, according to Reuters, and Mojtaba Khamenei’s dismissal of Trump’s signature left neither side visibly operating within the agreement’s framework.
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The structural problem is that if US maritime enforcement continues regardless of negotiations, then Iran’s Hormuz interdiction loses its trade value. Mojtaba Khamenei’s statement that Trump’s signature was “utterly worthless” may have been calculated to extract concessions in exchange for a return to compliance. But if the strikes continue whether or not Iran complies, there is nothing to trade back.
Iranian Strikes and Casualties
Kuwait said Iran struck its power and desalination plants for a fourth straight day on the night of July 20.
Two US personnel were killed in an Iranian attack in Jordan on July 17 and a third was missing, according to CENTCOM. US military deaths since the war began in February stood at 16.
Iran’s Health Ministry reported a cumulative toll of 50 killed and more than 500 wounded from US strikes over the previous three weeks, figures compiled before Night 9 and reported by Reuters.
The Oil Price and the Strait
Benchmark Brent crude traded at nearly $90 a barrel on July 21, according to Business Today.
Iran said on July 12 that it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters.
Background
The US campaign against Iran resumed after the ceasefire collapsed on July 8, when CENTCOM struck more than 80 targets in southern Iran.
Iran targeted US facilities across Gulf states on July 12, as CENTCOM began a new series of strikes on Iran. The deaths of two US service members in Jordan on July 17 preceded Night 8 and Night 9.
The strikes occur against the backdrop of a collapsing diplomatic architecture. The MOU’s 60-day window expires in about 27 days, and the interim ceasefire deal had already fallen apart, according to Reuters.
The closest historical precedent remains the 1987-88 “Tanker War” period. The US launched Operation Earnest Will — a convoy-escort mission that ran for 14 months and included Operation Praying Mantis, a single-day punitive strike in April 1988 that destroyed two Iranian oil platforms and sank the frigate Sahand. Iranian attacks on neutral shipping dropped sharply afterwards.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many US service members have been killed in the Iran campaign?
Sixteen US military personnel had died since the war began in February, according to CENTCOM as of July 18. The two most recent deaths occurred in Jordan on July 17 after an Iranian attack, and a third service member was reported missing.
What was Operation Praying Mantis?
Operation Praying Mantis was a single-day US Navy action on April 18, 1988, triggered by the mining of the guided-missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts four days earlier during the Iran-Iraq War. The US destroyed the Iranian oil platforms Sassan and Sirri, sank the frigate Sahand, and crippled the frigate Sabalan — the largest of the US Navy’s major surface engagements since World War II. Iranian attacks on neutral shipping dropped sharply afterwards.
Update, July 20: The surveillance cover Saudi Arabia still relies on is examined in What Watches the Gulf for Saudi Arabia Now? CENTCOM’s July 20 strikes are covered in a separate report.
