Overview
- U.S. forces have stepped up precision attacks on Iranian air defenses, coastal surveillance sites and missile and drone production facilities, while enforcing a new naval blockade of approaches to the Strait of Hormuz.
- CENTCOM said U.S. forces disabled the petroleum tanker M/T Belma after it ignored warnings and tried to reach Iran, and other ships were rerouted to uphold the blockade.
- President Trump publicly flagged the underground Pickaxe Mountain complex near Natanz as a possible target and has reviewed options in Situation Room meetings that include strikes on the site or seizure of strategic positions such as Kharg island.
- Iran has activated air defenses, reported counterstrikes against U.S. regional assets and launched missiles and drones that Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain say they intercepted, raising the risk of wider Gulf involvement.
- Analysts warn Pickaxe Mountain is dug deep in granite—estimates range from roughly 145 to 600 meters—making it hard to destroy with conventional bunker‑busters and raising steep technical, political and energy-market risks if the U.S. moves against it.