US forces strike Iran again, Trump suggests naval blockade

U.S. forces conducted strikes against Iran for a second straight day on Wednesday to "degrade" Iran's ability "to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz," the U.S. Central Command said, reported Xinhua.

The United States is "holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway," the command said in a post on X.

More than 20 U.S. Navy warships were patrolling waters across the Middle East on Wednesday, the command said in an earlier post.

The move came after U.S. President Donald Trump warned at the NATO summit in Ankara earlier the same day that the U.S. military would probably hit Iran again.

"I'll give a little warning: We're going to hit them hard tonight," Trump said, adding that he did not expect a full-fledged conflict with Iran.

Following Trump's remarks at the summit, Iran's Press TV, citing an informed source, reported that Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz and strike twice as many targets given any fresh U.S. attack.

The developments came as the United States and Iran traded fresh attacks from Tuesday night into Wednesday, marking a new round of escalation.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Army announced Wednesday eight of its forces were killed in U.S. strikes earlier in the day in the southern provinces of Hormozgan and Bushehr.

In a statement on its website, the army said the individuals, members of its air force and navy, were killed during the "terrorist U.S. Army's criminal aggression" against regions in southern Iran.

It identified those killed as Ali Moeini, Ali Mehdizadeh, Hamed Davvari, Amir-Hossein Qassemi, Alireza Zarei Sani, Alireza Balideh, Shahab Omidi and Mohammad Javad Ravanfar, vowing to avenge "the country's martyrs."

Earlier on Wednesday, state-run IRIB news agency reported a serviceman of the Navy of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed in the U.S. strikes in the port city of Bandar-e Mahshahr, southwestern Iran's Khuzestan province.

U.S. Central Command said in a post on X early Wednesday its forces completed a new round of offensive strikes against Iran, "hitting over 80 targets with precision munitions as an immediate response to Iran's latest attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz."

Later, Iran's IRGC and army said in separate statements their forces hit U.S. military targets in Bahrain and Kuwait in retaliation for the strikes.

The latest clashes came as, under a recently signed peace memorandum of understanding, Iran and the United States were scheduled to hold negotiations within a 60-day period to reach a final agreement.

Trump suggests imposing naval blockade back on Iran

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that Washington could reimpose its naval blockade on Iran, following a series of attacks on commercial vessels by Tehran near the Strait of Hormuz, reported ANI.

Trump made the remarks during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara, indicating that a blockade could be used as another measure against Tehran.

"We may put down the blockade. We may put it back, the blockade. And it'll only be a blockade for Iran," Trump said.

The US President stated that the blockade will only be imposed on vessels transiting to and from Iranian ports, and other nations would not be affected by the measure.

Trump further stated that Tehran could attempt to deploy mines in the waterway but claimed US forces were capable of countering such actions.

"Anybody else can have whatever they want. Now, of course, they'll drop some mines if they can, if they can do it. But it's hard because we're taking out those little boats," he added.

NATO Chief backs US strikes on Iran

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday defended the recent US military strikes on Iran, calling them "absolutely necessary" after Tehran allegedly attacked three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, reported ANI.

Delivering his doorstep statement ahead of the 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara, Rutte said that the US strikes were in relation to Iran's violation of the ceasefire as part of the 14-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Washington and Tehran to end the hostilities in West Asia.

"I think it was absolutely necessary because when you have a ceasefire, Iran is basically violating the ceasefire. We've seen what happened yesterday with ships being attacked. I think it is totally crucial that the US forcefully react," the NATO chief said.