Day 144 of the WarTuesday, July 21, 2026
Day 144 — Trump Rejects the 10-Day Ceasefire, Kuwait's Tanker Kifan Is Hit, and a Third Fallen American Is Named
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Sistan and Baluchestan and HormozganBahrain, Kuwait and JordanStrait of HormuzKermanshah and Tehran
Tenth and Eleventh Nights — Tunnel Mouths at Konarak and a Thinning Target List
Iran- CENTCOM says the round that ended at 9 p.m. ET on July 20 hit command centers, maritime capabilities, launch sites and air defenses, adding it has helped some 900 ships and 450 million barrels of crude through Hormuz since early May; at 7 p.m. ET it began the 11th consecutive night.source
- Fars reported several explosions in Sirik and blasts in Bandar Abbas and Qeshm, with more in Konarak, Chabahar and Bandar Lengeh, while Mehr noted air defense activity around the Bushehr nuclear power plant, per RadioFarda.source
- Satellite imagery shows U.S. strikes concentrated on the entrances of underground tunnels at an IRGC naval base near Konarak, apparently used to shelter the IRGC Navy's equipment, LiveIranNews reports.source
- Babak Taghvaee assesses that CENTCOM's latest strike video shows no significant military assets destroyed, arguing that very little is left to hit in southern Iran while the IRGC still has many targets at Gulf air bases hosting U.S. forces.source
Writers and Filmmakers Taken by IRGC Intelligence
Iran- IRGC Intelligence agents seized Kermanshah writer and journalist Arash Mahmoudi, 41, from his workplace on July 11; after days of interrogation he was moved to Dizelabad Prison and a heavy bail was set, Iran International reports.source
- Documentary filmmaker Sepideh Abtahi has been moved to Qarchak Prison in Varamin; her sister says IRGC Intelligence is holding her and no charges have been disclosed to her lawyer or family, per RadioFarda.source
- Activist Noa Magid says 22-year-old Nahal Ahoo Ghalandari was shot dead by the regime for smiling in the street on the day Khamenei died.source
A Third Name, a Hotel in Manama and Drones Toward Rukban
US / Coalition- CENTCOM identified Michael Emmanuel Swinton of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command as the third American service member killed in the recent Iranian attacks in Iraq and Jordan, Iran International reports.source
- The IRGC Aerospace Force reportedly struck a hotel in Manama where U.S. Navy personnel and commanders relocated from Fifth Fleet headquarters were staying, and the hotel is said to be on fire; there is no official confirmation of the target or casualties, Babak Taghvaee notes.source
- The IRGC claims it destroyed Patriot systems and a radar at Muharraq and Riffa in Bahrain, radar and satellite links at Kuwait's Ahmad al-Jaber base and an MQ-9 hangar at Ali Al Salem, and says cruise missiles hit Amazon's data infrastructure in Bahrain; none of it has been confirmed, per RadioFarda.source
- Jordan's army says it intercepted five Iranian drones heading for the Rukban area on the Syrian border, hours after the IRGC claimed an attack on a complex housing U.S. troops there and said several were killed, a claim Jordanian and U.S. officials have not confirmed, per RadioFarda.source
Kuwait's Tanker Kifan Hit and Traffic Grinds Toward a Halt
Gulf & Naval- Kuwait summoned Iran's ambassador after its tanker Kifan was hit in Hormuz on Monday, injuring several crew, and said Iran again struck a power plant and a desalination facility; Qatar condemned the attacks as a flagrant violation of sovereignty, per RadioFarda.source
- The IRGC announced an explosion, a large fire and the halting of two tankers on the southern route, stopping short of claiming responsibility but warning shipowners that the U.S.-backed route is 'dangerous and unsafe,' RadioFarda reports.source
- UKMTO reported a merchant ship 17 nautical miles east of Dibba, UAE, hit by an unknown projectile that damaged its navigation system; all crew are safe and no pollution was reported, per LiveIranNews.source
- Bloomberg reports supertanker giant Sinokor is offering crews six months' extra pay to cross Hormuz, after attacks on two Danaos-managed ships effectively halted traffic, with owners hiding their positions, Iran International relays.source
Trump Rejects the Ceasefire and Names Kolang Gazla Mountain
- Trump rejected the proposed 10-day ceasefire, with U.S. officials calling its terms 'absurd' and 'illogical,' and The Jerusalem Post's sources claim Tehran secretly initiated it; Trump wants Iran to 'pay a price' for the deaths of U.S. troops, Visegrad 24 reports.source
- Trump says Iran is 'desperately seeking negotiations' and warned the U.S. will very soon launch a massive attack on Kolang Gazla Mountain near Natanz, a deeply buried tunnel site Israeli sources link to advanced centrifuges, per RadioFarda.source
- At a Senate hearing, Pete Hegseth called the reimposed blockade 'practically impenetrable,' put the cost of the war so far at $37.5 billion and said the Pentagon needs more funding or training must be cut, Iran International reports.source
- Bulgaria's prime minister will ask parliament to host up to eight U.S. refueling aircraft, drawing a warning from Tehran about 'complicity' in aggression, while Bloomberg says Britain's new prime minister kept allowing U.S. use of Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford, per RadioFarda.source