Day 139 of the WarThursday, July 16, 2026
Day 139 — The Blockade Bites as Hormuz Transits Drop From 13 to Seven; CENTCOM's Evening Wave Hits Command Centers and Destroys a Kaman-99 on the Chabahar Runway; Fire Erupts at the Imam Reza Shrine Where Khamenei Lies Buried; Trump Weighs Strikes on Kharg Island and the Kolang Gazla Underground Complex
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The Evening Wave — Command Centers, Air Defenses, and a Drone Caught on the Runway
Iran- CENTCOM ended an evening wave of strikes against Iran at 9 p.m. ET on July 15, hitting Iranian command centers, air defense sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities to further degrade the regime's ability to threaten shipping.source
- CENTCOM released images of the operations — U.S. Navy F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets taking off from the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and the launch of Tomahawk cruise missiles, per LiveIranNews.source
- CENTCOM footage shows the destruction of an Iranian Air Force Kaman-99 one-way attack drone as it was being towed along the runway at the 10th Tactical Fighter Base in Chabahar, Babak Taghvaee reports — why it was moving in the open is unclear.source
Damage Across the Map — a Burning Shrine, a Downed Bridge, a Hit Hangar
Iran- A major fire erupted inside Mashhad's Imam Reza Shrine complex, where supreme leader Ali Khamenei was buried; Iranian authorities say the blaze began at an asphalt workshop at the complex, Iran International reports via Open Source Intel.source
- Vahid Online publishes a received photo of the Kuhurstan Bridge in Khameer County, Hormozgan Province, said to have been destroyed by a U.S. airstrike on Thursday.source
- Semnan crisis-management spokesman Mahmoud Ghaderi said a U.S. airstrike on the city's airport hit a secondary hangar in the early morning, adding the attack resulted in no casualties, per Iran International.source
Drones Over Erbil — the Coalition Answers in Iraqi Kurdistan
US / Coalition- Kurdish militiamen say U.S.-led coalition forces intercepted and shot down several Iranian drones over Erbil in Iraq's Kurdistan Region; AFP journalists in the area observed several drones being downed, RadioFarda reports.source
The Blockade Bites — Hormuz Transits Halved on Day One
Gulf & Naval- Shipping data cited by Iran International shows that on the first day after the U.S. maritime blockade of Iran's ports resumed, the number of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz dropped from 13 to seven, per Reuters figures from the Kepler company.source
Deeper Underground — Kharg, Kolang Gazla, and a New Sanctions Round
- CNN and the Wall Street Journal report Trump is considering options to expand U.S. military operations against the regime, including strikes on Kharg Island, bombing underground facilities in Kolang Gazla Mountain, and intensifying attacks, per Iran International.source
- Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters spokesman Ibrahim Zulfaqari dismissed Trump's threats to target Iran's power plants as 'empty' — but warned that if the United States acts on them, Iran would respond.source
- The State Department and Treasury imposed a new round of sanctions on a network of four individuals and three companies that, according to Washington, played a role in supplying military equipment to the regime, per Iran International.source