President Donald Trump declared the U.S.-Iran peace memorandum "over" on July 8, 2026, and shortly thereafter reinstated the U.S. naval blockade of Iran. Since then, a gradually escalating air war has unfolded across the Middle East, killing at least four U.S. troops and at least 50 Iranians.

Violence has spread beyond rural areas, with air raid sirens sounding in Jordanian cities for the first time in weeks after Iran attacked King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba. Additionally, another American died in Iraqi Kurdistan while handling a crashed Iranian drone.

Following an alleged U.S. strike on a water plant in southern Iran, Iranian forces bombed water and electrical plants in Kuwait over several consecutive days. Kuwaiti residents report that these air raids feel more intense than those during the full-scale war in March 2026.

Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime passage the post-ceasefire U.S. campaign aimed to protect, has come to a halt after Iranian attacks killed several sailors.

Clause 1 of the previous peace agreement committed both sides to the "permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon," and to "ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon." While Iran interpreted this as requiring a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, the U.S. secured Lebanese government approval for a long-term Israeli campaign against the pro-Iran militia Hezbollah.

Iranian leaders re-closed the Strait of Hormuz, believing the U.S. was engaged in "a concerted effort to erode [Iranian] leverage" and anticipating another U.S.-Israeli attack as "inevitable," according to Iranian-American academic Vali Nasr writing in the Financial Times.

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