As the United States pounded Iran for a second straight day, Iran hit back by completely blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a key global crude oil conduit. U.S. President Donald Trump said he discussed halting the bombing in a direct call with senior Iranian officials, but Iran immediately denied it, sparking a war of words over the facts. Despite behind-the-scenes mediation, critics say both sides are shifting blame for escalation and repeating a pattern of armed clashes similar to before.
On the 10th (local time), according to combined reports from Reuters, CNN and other major outlets, U.S. Central Command carried out additional self-defense strikes on multiple targets in Iran. It was the second day since resuming attacks the previous day, blaming delays in cease-fire talks. President Trump said in the Oval Office, "We hit them hard yesterday, and we will hit hard today as well." U.S. defense Minister Pete Hegseth likewise said he would bomb key Iranian facilities, pushing military pressure to a peak. When asked by reporters whether U.S. attacks could amount to war crimes targeting civilian infrastructure, Minister Hegseth called it "a dishonest question" and avoided a clear answer. In fact, Iranian state media strongly pushed back, releasing photos of debris believed to be U.S. bomb fragments and a destroyed drinking water reservoir.
Facing the U.S. onslaught, Iran played a hard card by fully sealing off the Strait of Hormuz. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared on its official Telegram channel, "Due to regional instability, we are immediately closing the Strait of Hormuz to all vessels, including oil tankers and merchant ships." It added a warning that "any vessel attempting to pass through the strait will become a target." Iranian local media reported that the Iranian navy in fact struck two violating ships that tried to transit. CNN said, "A Qatari delegation is still in Tehran, Iran, trying to mediate, but there is no visible breakthrough yet."
Amid a hair-trigger crisis, the two sides are making conflicting claims over whether they talked. President Trump said in a Fox News interview that "we spoke directly with Iranian officials" and claimed "they asked me to stop the bombing." In contrast, Iranian state media, citing an anonymous senior official, pushed back, saying "Trump's false claim that Iranian officials contacted him is a pretext to avoid war with Iran." Ebrahim Azizi, chair of the Iranian parliament's National Security Committee, also warned that "this war will not be limited to the region," leaving open the possibility of strikes on U.S. facilities.
With war clouds thickening over the Middle East, which determines global energy supplies, economic uncertainty also surged. Container shipping costs from Asia to the United States nearly doubled after the conflict began. That day, President Trump fueled controversy by saying about a recent report of rising prices, "I love inflation." He wrote on his social media that he "secretly approved a military operation to extract 100 million barrels of crude from the Strait of Hormuz," claiming "even if an expense incurs and prices rise, it was worth it."