Overview
- The U.S. military completed its 11th consecutive night of airstrikes, with CENTCOM saying operations targeted Iranian military command centers, maritime facilities, drone and missile sites and air defenses to blunt attacks on commercial vessels.
- President Trump publicly named Pickaxe Mountain as a likely next target and warned the United States would destroy a bridge or power plant for every future attack on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
- U.S. forces struck Larak Island in the strait on Wednesday, and CENTCOM has moved and readied additional aircraft and tankers as planners prepare for the possibility of a larger campaign.
- The human and fiscal toll is mounting: U.S. officials report at least 17 service members killed and Pentagon accounting puts the war cost so far at about $37.5 billion, while hundreds of U.S. personnel have been wounded.
- Iran and Iran-backed actors have broadened attacks across the Gulf and Red Sea, including threats of a Houthi blockade of Saudi ports, forcing some ships to reroute and pushing oil prices noticeably higher as diplomacy falters.