Iran rejected a new ceasefire proposal from President Donald Trump, and US forces launched another night of strikes against Iranian military targets overnight into Friday after the president warned he was considering a “massive” attack. Iranian sources also warned that any expanded US assault on Tehran would prompt strikes on Tel Aviv and a broader regional escalation.
The New York Times, citing Iranian and Iraqi officials, reported that Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi delivered President Trump’s ceasefire proposal to Tehran after meeting with the president at the White House earlier this month. The report said Iran rejected the offer because it was not interested in a temporary agreement that left control of the Strait of Hormuz unresolved.
Hours later, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced it had begun a 13th consecutive night of strikes against Iran, targeting military headquarters, drone storage facilities, communication networks, coastal surveillance sites and naval capabilities. CENTCOM said the operation was intended to reduce threats from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to commercial shipping and civilian mariners in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that commercial vessels continue transiting the waterway with US military support.
Iranian media reported explosions near Bandar Abbas and Ahvaz, while Nour News said air defense systems were activated in Tehran against what it described as a hostile threat.
Two Iranian sources told The New York Times that if Trump follows through on threats to attack Tehran and critical infrastructure, Iran would expand the conflict by striking Tel Aviv and asking the Houthis in Yemen to close the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.
Iran later claimed it attacked the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and the Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, saying drones struck fuel tanks and US personnel quarters in Bahrain and targeted aircraft hangars and quarters in Jordan. Kuwait’s military separately said it intercepted an Iranian drone attack that, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency, targeted Ali Al Salem Air Base.
President Trump later claimed Iran’s missile arsenal was “down 91%” and announced that any future damage to ships or cargo would be compensated using Iranian funds under US control. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned such a policy would create “a dangerous and inciting precedent,” saying, “once governments normalize confiscation, no one’s assets are safe.”
