Iran launches fresh attacks on U.S. targets, shattering days-long lull in fighting

Middle East ConflictIran launches fresh attacks on U.S. targets, shattering days-long lull in fighting Tehran’s “surprise” attack was likely a bid to “shape the negotiations through force, not because it had abandoned diplomacy,” one Middle East military expert said. Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00Add NBC News to GoogleIran launches surprise attack on U.S. Middle East bases01:05Get more newsLiveonShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJuly 28, 2026, 11:55 PM EDTBy Chantal Da SilvaIran attacked American forces in the Middle East overnight, prompting Saudi Arabia and the United States to retaliate against a Tehran-backed militia in Iraq and shattering a period of relative calm raising the risk of a further escalation of the conflict. Iran had suspended its attacks amid a renewed push to reach a deal with the U.S., but warned earlier this week that it would not allow the U.S. to dictate the “timing of war and peace,” while maintaining that the Strait of Hormuz was “closed.” The sudden return of hostilities shattered the relative calm that had descended on Iran for several days after the U.S. paused daily strikes on the Islamic Republic in order to make room for peace talks. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it had launched strikes on a U.S. air base and military central command center in Jordan, state-run Nour News agency reported early Wednesday, local time. Its navy also struck three oil tankers that it said were “in violation” of its blockade on the Strait off Hormuz, said separately, according to Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA.U.S. service members support flight operations from the Arabian Sea, in an official photo shared on July 20.@CENTCOM / via XIn a post on X, U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, said it had thwarted an “attempted surprise attack” on forces based in the Middle East at around 5.45 p.m. Tuesday night. All Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted, it said, but troops remained “vigilant and at a high state of readiness.” Just hours la...