US-Iran Situation Report — 2026-07-18 03:25 UTC

US Central Command confirmed a seventh consecutive night of strikes on Iran, describing the campaign as aimed at further degrading Iranian military capabilities. Iranian state media (IRNA, state TV, Mehr) reported explosions in the early hours of Saturday in Yazd in central Iran, three in Sirik in the south, and blasts in several southern provinces — indicating the US strike wave has reached beyond far-southern infrastructure into central Iran (Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/17/us-launches-seventh-straight-night-of-strikes-on-iran). The seventh-night strike was first reported by CENTCOM via Al Jazeera's liveblog (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/7/16/iran-war-live-us-carries-out-strikes-on-civilian-infrastructure-in-south).

Al Jazeera's open-source unit published European Sentinel-2 satellite imagery dated July 7 and July 12 showing newly formed impact scars inside Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant complex and a nearby support facility, from the July 7–12 wave of US strikes (Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/17/satellite-images-show-damage-inside-irans-bushehr-nuclear-power-plant). Bushehr deputy governor Ehsan Jahanian said several locations around the plant were struck but the reactor itself was not hit and remained operating normally; CENTCOM said it struck roughly 90 targets on July 7–8 and did not name Bushehr as a target. The IAEA has repeatedly warned that nuclear facilities must not be attacked.

Iran's retaliatory strikes on Gulf states continued, with Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy saying an Iranian strike hit a power and water plant, damaging a large number of electricity generation units and sparking a fire that was since extinguished; residents were urged to ration electricity (Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/17/us-launches-seventh-straight-night-of-strikes-on-iran). This builds on earlier reporting that Iran had struck targets in Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq and Syria.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said Iranian forces attacked a Thai-flagged vessel attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, and the deputy governor of Bushehr said the US had attacked an Iranian oil tanker docked at Kharg Island — both reported as claims, not independently confirmed (Al Jazeera liveblog, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/7/16/iran-war-live-us-carries-out-strikes-on-civilian-infrastructure-in-south).

Maj-Gen Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, warned via IRIB/IRNA that Tehran would move to "offence and complete destruction" and launch "full-scale offensive operations," saying "no political border will be safe," if US strikes continue another two to three days (Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/17/us-launches-seventh-straight-night-of-strikes-on-iran). The warning is an escalation signal, not a confirmed new strike.