Iran and US trade strikes, shattering lull in fighting

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Iran has launched "multiple" ballistic missiles in an "attempted surprise attack" on American forces in the Middle East, the US military said, shattering a lull in the fighting. The attack occurred at 17:45 EDT (21:45 GMT) on Tuesday, with all missiles "successfully intercepted", said US Central Command (Centcom), which did not disclose any locations of targets.

Posted by REDIAL at 09:55 PM | 7 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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The US military and Saudi Arabian forces meanwhile struck "Iran-aligned terrorists" in Iraq in retaliation for Iran-directed drone attacks, according to Centcom. Tehran has not yet commented. The reported crossfire would end a brief break in hostilities between the US and Iran, which was designed to bring negotiators back to the table.

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So...

This "cease-fire" seems to be turning out like the earlier cease-fires?

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-07-28 10:02 PM | Reply

turning out like the earlier cease-fires?

Very strongly.

#2 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-07-28 10:05 PM | Reply

The US and Saudis attacking targets in Iraq is an interesting twist. Part of the "giving Saudis nukes" deal?

#3 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-07-28 10:10 PM | Reply

Actually, the interesting twist is that this round, Iran launched ballistic missiles offensively, not in retaliation for an initial US strike.

That would seem to indicate that Iran now knows that every time America has to intercept missiles and drones it will cost them tens of millions of dollars and valuable defensive weaponry. Plus it raised the cost of oil 5% in just one hour. Maybe they can manipulate market prices too.
Or it's simply the time-honored slow bleed.

#4 | Posted by Nerfherder at 2026-07-28 10:25 PM | Reply

@#4 ... Iran now knows ...

Pres Trump's war of choice against Iran has taught Iran a lot of things, most of which seem to be of a more long-term, strategic nature.

For starters, before Pres Trump's war of choice against Iran, the Strait of Hormuz had seen the passage of 130+ ships per day.

How many ships per day are passing this week?

#5 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-07-28 10:50 PM | Reply

How many ships per day are passing this week?

I read somewhere that there was one yesterday.

#6 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-07-28 10:59 PM | Reply

It is likely that the Netanyahu-Trump fascist fiesta today (along with the weeks-long build-up of American military assets in Israel) nudged Iran
unto no longer waiting to defensively respond to yet another surprise attack by Epstein Inc.

Each day costs the US millions of dollars and depletes reserve stockpiles of both types of weaponry ... not to mention the SPR.

#7 | Posted by NerfHerder at 2026-07-28 11:03 PM | Reply