U.S. strikes Iran again as Tehran hits back at bases in three countries, ending a month of relative quiet

The guns that had been quiet for most of August are firing again. U.S. Central Command announced Tuesday that American forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets inside Iran at noon Eastern time - a fresh escalation that blew past what administration officials had been quietly framing as a period of reduced hostilities. Iran struck back fast, sending missiles and drones at American positions in Bahrain, Jordan, and Iraq within hours.

It was, the heaviest exchange of fire between the U.S. and Iran in more than a month.

What happened

"Today at 12 p.m. ET, U.S. forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran," U.S. Central Command posted on X. "The strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region." Iran's state broadcaster said explosions were reported on Qeshm Island, on the northern side of the strait.

Iran said it began retaliating with missiles and drones targeting U.S. interests in the region, as explosions were reported over Aqaba, Jordan. The United States had launched a new wave of attacks on southern Iran, prompting retaliatory Iranian strikes on U.S. bases in Bahrain, Jordan, and Iraq, amid an intensifying standoff over the Strait of Hormuz. Kuwait also said its air defenses confronted Iranian drones and missiles.

Trump called the U.S. strikes "large and powerful" and threatened a much bigger attack if Iran retaliated again. He did not specify targets. The White House did not hold a formal briefing Tuesday afternoon.

The immediate trigger was over shipping. Oil prices had already risen after a first exchange of direct attacks since July and after reports of two tankers being hit on Monday leaving the Strait - the global oil supply waterway that Iran has effectively closed to shipping. Two supertankers carrying Saudi oil were struck by unknown projectiles within minutes of each other while transiting outbound through the Strait of Hormuz late on Monday, according to data from shipping intelligence firms Marisks and Kpler.

Brent crude futures, already up 2 percent on the day, jumped almost 2 percent more on the strike reports.

The broader Washington context

Tuesday's exchange did not come from nowhere. U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, 2026, sparked a wide-reaching regional conflict, with ongoing U.S. and Israeli operations in Iran and Iranian retaliatory strikes on a range of targets in a number of countries, and threats and attacks that have largely halted maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

A Pakistan-brokered ceasefire took hold in early April. It never fully held. No text reflecting mutual agreement on ceasefire terms was released, and the two sides' differing public statements presaged subsequent points of tension. A U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance met with Iranian counterparts in Islamabad on April 11 and 12 - the senior-most diplomatic engagement between the two countries since 1979. Trump said on April 12 that "most points were agreed to, but the only point that mattered, NUCLEAR, was not," and announced the beginning of a U.S. blockade on Iranian shipping.

By late May, the White House declared the war over. It was not. On May 1, the White House asserted that "hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated." Some members of Congress continue to introduce measures under the War Powers Resolution to end hostilities with Iran and assert the need for congressional approval. The House and Senate have collectively rejected nine such measures since early March 2026.

The attacks are the latest flashpoint in the months-long fight between Washington and Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important energy chokepoints. Before the war, roughly a fifth of global oil supplies passed through the waterway, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

On the Hill: war powers simmering, no vote called

Congress returned Tuesday from recess, but the House's floor agenda - domestic mining rules, a lobsterman protection bill, a measure on socialism, and one on academic freedom, per OMB's statements of administration policy - was set before the strikes landed. Several House GOP conservatives said they would vote against a rule vote Tuesday afternoon, putting Speaker Mike Johnson's agenda for the week at risk. No emergency war powers debate was immediately scheduled.

The congressional research service, in a report current as of Tuesday, laid out the administration's options bluntly: if the Islamic Republic endures, the United States may balance the costs, benefits, and risks of various options, including negotiating a deal that includes an end to hostilities and potential policy concessions by Iran; concluding or suspending hostilities as part of an uneasy, informal, or temporary ceasefire; or escalating U.S. military action. Tuesday's events moved squarely toward that third option.

A separate Pentagon front: the election integrity letter

Even as CENTCOM was releasing strike footage, a different civil-military story broke in Washington. The highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military said there are no plans to send troops to polling places during November's midterm congressional elections, addressing concerns among Democrats that the Trump administration could use the military to interfere with the vote. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the statement in a letter to Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who recently asked Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to confirm they won't send troops to the polls.

The letter was explicit on three points. "Likewise, the Joint Force has no plans to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related material." Caine also wrote: "I have neither received nor anticipate receiving any unlawful order concerning the role of the Joint Force in the upcoming November 2026 midterm elections."

In his response, Caine noted that "election administration and security remain the fundamental responsibility of state and local officials." That phrasing tracks almost word for word with a similar letter Gen. Mark Milley sent Slotkin - when she was still a House member - before the 2020 election.

One conspicuous gap: Slotkin had asked both Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to pledge that the military would not be used to interfere with voting or the handling of election materials. Hegseth has not responded to Slotkin's request for a letter, according to Slotkin's press secretary Sonja Thrasher.

Anxiety among Democrats that the Trump administration could try to meddle in the midterm elections has grown, particularly after the president deployed federal agents in Democratic-led states over the objections of local leaders. Slotkin told the AP earlier in August that Trump has been laying the groundwork to claim the elections were stolen. Federal law prohibits the deployment of armed federal forces to election locations unless "necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States."

What to Watch

• Iran's next move. Tehran has said any country allowing its territory to be used for strikes on Iran is a legitimate target. According to Iranian authorities, the attacks targeted American interests and military bases in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli strikes, and they stated that any country that would allow its territory to be used for attacks against Iran would be considered a legitimate target. Watch the posture of Gulf states - especially Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.
• War Powers on the Hill. With nine War Powers measures already defeated in 2026, a tenth may surface after Tuesday's escalation. Whether Johnson schedules floor time for it - with his own conference already bucking him on unrelated rule votes - is uncertain.
• Oil markets. Brent crude's intraday spike Tuesday will be watched at open Wednesday. A sustained move above the week's highs would complicate the Federal Reserve's rate path and feed directly into the midterm economic argument.
• Hegseth's silence. The defense secretary has still not responded to Slotkin's letter. Slotkin's press secretary confirmed Hegseth has not replied to the letter asking him to confirm troops won't be deployed to the polls in November. Slotkin had asked for a response by last Thursday. Whether he answers before Congress's next recess will tell its own story.
• Supreme Court's ballroom case, full merits. The Supreme Court on Monday allowed Trump to move forward with construction of the White House ballroom, which had been partially blocked by lower courts. Divided 5-4, the court granted an emergency request filed by the Trump administration earlier in August, staying the lower court rulings. The underlying merits - including whether the trust challenging the project has standing - will return to lower courts, and a full challenge remains live.

Sources: The Washington Post | Military Times | Axios | CNBC | Al Jazeera | PBS NewsHour / AP | The Hill | NBC News | Sen. Slotkin press release | CRS: U.S. Conflict with Iran | TIME