The ceasefire was technically still in place. The bombs fell anyway. On the night of May 25 into May 26, the US strikes Iran. The southern area was struck, targeting missile launch sites and boats attempting to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz. The same day, Iran ended an 87-day internet blackout. And in Doha, diplomats from both sides were still at the table. On May 26, 2026, all of those things are simultaneously true, and together they describe a conflict that has never been as simple as a ceasefire or as final as a peace deal.
What CENTCOM Said and What It Hit
Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for US Central Command, confirmed the strikes were “self-defense strikes” targeting “missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines.” The strikes hit the area of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran, near the Strait of Hormuz, according to a defence official. CENTCOM said the action was taken “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” adding: “US Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire.”
No announcement of any changes to the temporary truce that came into effect between the US and Iran on April 8. Iranian state media reported explosions heard in the coastal areas near the strait and in the city of Bandar Abbas. The situation in the port of Bandar Abbas was at hand, and there was no reason to worry, says Mehr News Agency in Iran. At the time of writing, Iran had not provided an official military response.
The strikes are part of a possible agreement between both sides to lift the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the route for some 20 percent of the world’s shipping, that has been closed since the war began on Feb. 28. The next 24 hours will tell if the new strikes hurt those talks.
US Strikes Iran: Four Killed Near Strait
The Bandar Abbas strikes are not the only kinetic action recorded near the strait on Monday. At least four people died when US and Israeli aircraft hit Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz, Times Now reported quoting Iranian state media and Middle East Eye. The incident happened south of Larak island, which was the goal of the attack, Fars news agency reported.
Iranian state television reported that the situation was calm in nearby Bandar Abbas. They most likely refer to the same set of operations that were confirmed by CENTCOM, but the exact numbers of casualties have not been substantiated by U.S. or Israeli military sources.
Trump on Uranium, Doha on Diplomacy
As the US strikes Iran were reported, US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social about one of the most contested issues in the ongoing Doha negotiations. “The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed, or preferably in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place,” Trump wrote, suggesting the Atomic Energy Commission or its equivalent would witness the process. The post, shared by CNN News 18, came as high-stakes negotiations continued in Doha over the terms of a potential peace agreement. Trump separately stated on social media that negotiations were “proceeding nicely,” even as the military strikes were being conducted.
The uranium stockpile question has been one of the hardest points in every round of US-Iran talks. Tehran has consistently refused any arrangement that it sees as surrendering its nuclear programme under military duress. Washington has consistently insisted that no deal is possible without a resolution of the enrichment issue.
The 87-Day Blackout Ends
On the same day the new strikes landed, something else happened inside Iran that carries its own weight. Iranian state media reports that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has given the order to reopen access to the Internet, following a near 90-day ban after the war against the US and Israel. Internet monitoring group NetBlocks reported that Iranian authorities had blocked nearly all Internet access in the country for over 87 days. The impositions hindered civilians’ access to information in the bombing campaign and also severely affected businesses which rely on internet access.
The blackout started on the 12th day of the protests against the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2025-2026, during which widespread disruptions of telephone and internet services were reported in Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, and Kermanshah. Iran’s Minister of Communications acknowledged that the shutdown was costing the economy $35.7 million a day. Iran’s government Special Task Force for the Regulation and Governance of Cyberspace voted in favour of returning internet access to pre-January 2026 conditions, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported, as diplomatic talks between the US and Tehran gathered pace.
Amid the US strikes Iran, the timing of the internet restoration is not accidental. It signals to the Iranian public and to international negotiating partners that Tehran is prepared to make gestures of normalisation. It is a diplomatic signal dressed as a technical announcement.
US Strikes Iran: The Human Cost
Since February 28, the human toll of the US-Israel-Iran conflict has continued to mount. According to data from the India Today Group citing media reports, reported casualties between February 28 and May 20 show Iran absorbing the heaviest losses with 3,468 killed. Lebanon follows with 3,151. 118 people have died in Iraq. Israel has reported 26. Despite not being a member of the warring parties, the UAE has suffered 12 deaths, which includes the missile and drone attacks on UAE infrastructure during the first weeks of the conflict. Kuwait had 7, Palestine 4, Syria 4 and Bahrain and Oman both had 3.
For all the times the US strikes Iran, the figures are those generated by the media and do not reflect the number of casualties as independently assessed. Casualties are likely to be significantly greater, especially in Iran, where the internet was shut down for independent reporting for the final 87 days of the war.
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