President Donald Trump on Monday reinstated a naval blockade against Iran after notifying Congress that US military action against the Islamic Republic had resumed, amid fresh blasts in southern Iran and continued ship attacks near Hormuz.
Trump said Monday that the United States would once again block ships belonging to the Islamic Republic or serving its customers from entering or leaving Iranian ports, while keeping the Strait of Hormuz open to traffic bound for other countries.
US Central Command said the blockade would take effect at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday and apply to vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas. American forces would continue supporting ships in regional waters that were not violating the restrictions, CENTCOM added.
The US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center said the measure would cover Iran’s entire coastline, including ports and oil terminals. Neutral vessels traveling through Hormuz to non-Iranian destinations would be allowed to pass, while humanitarian shipments would be permitted after inspection.
The announcement came days after Trump informed congressional leaders that “military action commenced on July 7 against the government of the Islamic Republic.”
In his July 10 letter which was released on Monday, Trump said US forces launched “defensive strikes” after Iranian forces attacked several neutral-flagged commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. The targets included missile launch sites, air defenses, maritime military assets, military-support infrastructure and command-and-control capabilities.
Trump said no American ground forces were involved and described the attacks as limited and measured. He nevertheless said US forces remained positioned to carry out further action, indicating that the July 7 operation marked the resumption of a military campaign rather than an isolated retaliatory strike.
The notification could further intensify a dispute between the White House and Congress over Trump’s authority to continue the war without legislative approval. Both chambers have voted to direct him to end the fighting or seek congressional authorization, while the administration says the president is acting within his constitutional powers as commander in chief.
US strikes have continued since the renewed campaign began. CENTCOM said American forces used one-way attack surface drones in combat for the first time on Sunday, striking a submarine and ship-maintenance facility at the Bandar Abbas Naval Base.
Three Corsair unmanned vessels hit the facility and degraded the Islamic Republic’s ability to attack commercial shipping, according to the US military.
Explosions in southern Iran
Fresh explosions were reported Monay across southern and southeastern Iran, within a coastal zone highlighted by CENTCOM.
The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said the sound of four missile impacts was heard near Konarak, with the blasts also audible in Chabahar and Dashtiari.
The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported six loud explosions in Chabahar and Konarak and said areas around Chabahar had been targeted by the US military in recent nights. It also reported explosions and the activation of air defenses in Bandar Abbas.
Iran’s state broadcaster later denied that explosions had occurred in Bandar Abbas, Larak and several other southern locations, contradicting earlier reports by IRNA and Tasnim. No immediate casualty figures were announced.
The confrontation also continued at sea, with Tasnim reporting that several vessels accused of violating Iranian restrictions had been targeted in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s armed forces warned they would respond forcefully to US interference with shipping and said regional governments providing logistical support to Washington could be regarded as participants in the war.
Trump, meanwhile, declared the United States the “Guardian of the Hormuz Strait” and proposed charging the equivalent of 20% of cargo shipped through the waterway, a plan rejected by the UN’s shipping agency as lacking a legal basis.
Trump also said the United States would hit Iran hard on Monday night and Tuesday, in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Asked about the memorandum of understanding, Trump said it had been a test for Iran and that Tehran had failed to honor it.
The message had been set in advance by the Friday Prayer Policy Council, which announced that weekly services nationwide would become “Fridays of Blood Vengeance and Revenge” until those blamed for Khamenei’s killing were punished.
The council said revenge was not an emotional response but a “strategic” and religious duty, explicitly naming US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Carrying out retribution against the principal criminals – particularly the criminal Trump and the child-killing Netanyahu – is an unchanging element of divine justice,” its statement said.
It went further, saying every person or group with the ability to act had a duty to “rise for jihad” and carry out the task without delay. The council said banners calling for vengeance for Khamenei would remain beside Friday prayer pulpits until retribution was achieved.
The language was repeated across major cities.
In Mashhad, where Khamenei was buried, Friday prayer leader Ahmad Alamolhoda said retaliation must be seen by the public rather than remain an unfulfilled promise.
“Revenge and blood vengeance for the martyred leader must remain before the eyes of the people, and the people must see it with their own eyes,” he said. “Only then will real revenge have been taken.”
Saeed Jalili, the Supreme Leader’s representative to the Supreme National Security Council, told worshippers in Mashhad that revenge was a national right and a responsibility for officials.
“If you say Iran’s assets must be released, the greatest asset of our nation was its beloved leader,” Jalili said. “Today, the nation’s right is to defend this great asset through revenge, and it is the duty of officials to pursue it.”
Bushehr’s interim Friday prayer leader Yousef Jamali said worshippers would continue chanting for revenge until the United States and Israel were punished.
“We will stand alongside the officials and the armed forces and, God willing, bring the White House down on its occupants,” Jamali said. “Know that the sword of our revenge will fall upon the oppressors.”
In Rasht, cleric Rasoul Falahati linked revenge to the dispute over the US-Iran memorandum and navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Negotiating in the middle of a war is meaningless,” he said. “Under the recent understanding, we opened the Strait of Hormuz, but America fulfilled none of its commitments and instead moved to further reinforce its bases.”
He said Muslims and “free nations” around the world were ready to take revenge on Trump and Netanyahu and urged Iran’s armed forces to respond firmly to any further US action.
Tehran Friday prayer leader Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi Fard also accused Washington of violating the memorandum and rejected any US role in the strategic waterway.
“We explicitly declare that under no circumstances will the United States be allowed to interfere in the affairs of the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
In Qom, Alireza Arafi described revenge against those who carried out and ordered Khamenei’s killing as a legal and religious right that would not be forgotten.
Shiraz interim Friday prayer leader Adel Hajipour used almost identical language, saying the destruction of those responsible was a public demand.
In Malayer, Mohammad-Ali Arzandeh said Friday prayers would remain “Fridays of revenge and blood vengeance” until Israel was destroyed and those blamed for regional insecurity were eliminated.
The responses shared with Iran International and posted on X and Instagram pointed less to enthusiasm for military escalation than to exhaustion after nearly four months of conflict. Many described life in a state of “neither war nor peace,” where even short-term decisions have been put on hold.
They spoke of worsening economic pressure, constant anxiety and tighter security conditions, as the United States and Iran traded a fresh round of attacks on Wednesday and Thursday, throwing their fragile agreement to end the war into deeper doubt.
The US military said it struck about 90 targets across Iran after Trump said the interim deal with Tehran is over for him, citing Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran responded with strikes on US-linked targets in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, as both sides accused each other of violating the interim agreement.
The Pentagon said it targeted Iranian military sites involved in attacks on commercial shipping.
Iran’s foreign ministry said the US strikes hit civilian infrastructure, including two railway bridges on the route to Mashhad, where authorities planned to bury former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Thursday. Fars said one was the Aq Taqeh Khan railway bridge in Golestan province, part of a northern route to China and Russia that became more important after the US blockade of Iran’s Persian Gulf ports.
Many messages sent to Iran International linked the timing of the strikes to Khamenei’s funeral, saying they disrupted what the Islamic Republic had tried to stage as a show of unity and political continuity.
“I hope this time the war makes a difference and this cancer is removed from the root. We’re all suffering,” one citizen wrote.
Others saw Trump’s tougher language as a sign that diplomacy with Tehran had reached a dead end.
“Should we tell Trump, ‘We told you so,’ or is it still too early?” one message read.
Another wrote: “Mr. Trump seems to have only just realized what kind of creature he is dealing with.”
Several urged Trump not to return to negotiations.
“Mr. Trump, Mr. Netanyahu and NATO leaders, have you realized yet that negotiating with the Islamic Republic is a waste of time?” one message said.
Another person in Tehran wrote: “Mr. Trump, you say bad days are coming for Iran. Come here for one day. If you find even one good day under the Islamic Republic, you’ll see the hell they have created for the people.”
Hope tempered by fear
Despite welcoming Trump's apparent shift away from diplomacy, several said they feared another drawn-out conflict that would deepen economic hardship without bringing meaningful political change.
"Mr. Trump, please stop. We don't know whether to worry about war, inflation, the dollar or our future," one citizen wrote.
Another said: "I'm only worried that war starts again but nothing changes. If war is inevitable, I hope it benefits the people of Iran."
Some openly encouraged stronger military action.
"President Trump, please finish the job quickly. People, don't lose hope. Our day of freedom is near," one message read.
Another added: "I'm a Trump supporter. I like him. He's a superpower that nobody can challenge. But sometimes he goes off script. Please, President Trump, finish the job this time. It's hard living in your own country with a group of criminals."
Others remained skeptical, saying Trump's previous preference for negotiations made them doubt whether the latest strikes would ultimately produce lasting change.
'Mohammad Something' becomes an instant meme
Trump's remarks on Wednesday also generated a wave of satire after he seemingly referred to chief negotiator Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf as "Mohammad something" while describing US surveillance of Iran's nuclear facilities.
The phrase quickly became one of the most widely shared jokes among Persian-language users on X, spawning countless memes aimed at senior Iranian officials.
X user Amin Parvin wrote: "We are living in a state of no war, no peace, no ceasefire and Mohammad Something."
Another user wrote: "Mohammad Something, Mojtaba (Khamenei) Nothing. You've become the laughing stock of the world."
Many directed the joke at Ghalibaf’s page after Trump appeared unable to recall his name.
"Mohammad Something, write your will. Trump didn't even bother learning your surname," one post said.
Another wrote: "Mohammad Something, it looks like this time it's your turn."
Reading Trump's strategy
Beyond the humor, users also debated whether Trump's harsher rhetoric signaled the abandonment of diplomacy or a negotiating tactic designed to force Iranian concessions.
"Trump is playing cat and mouse with them. He doesn't want a full-scale war yet. He's waiting for their response before deciding what to do next," one X user wrote.
Another posted: "I'm genuinely happy Trump is finally seeing their true nature."
Others argued Trump still preferred a negotiated settlement but believed military pressure had become his principal leverage.
"Trump loves being able to say he defeated them without war, so he's trying to disarm them through negotiations," one user wrote. "But their file is closed. Trump himself has said they'll lose their uranium either through negotiations or through war."
