U.S. and Iran exchange escalating strikes across the Middle East, threatening the fragile ceasefire
The United States and Iran engaged in intensifying military exchanges across the Middle East over multiple days in early July 2026, with U.S. airstrikes against Iran and Iranian retaliatory attacks targeting U.S.-allied countries including Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. The escalation threatens to collapse an interim ceasefire deal signed just weeks earlier, with President Trump declaring the truce "over."