US Central Command (CENTCOM) completed a series of powerful strikes early Wednesday (UTC), hitting over 80 Iranian targets in immediate retaliation for attacks on three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired missiles and drones at three commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, with reports of damage to vessels including a Qatari LNG tanker Al Rekayyat and a Saudi crude tanker, but no casualties. UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and U.S. officials confirmed the incidents.

In response, CENTCOM said it utilized precision munitions to degrade Iran's military capabilities, specifically targeting air defense systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) small boats.

"The unwarranted aggression by Iranian forces is a clear and dangerous violation of the ceasefire and undermines freedom of navigation. CENTCOM forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable." CENTCOM said in a post on X.

In response, Iran's top military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, has vowed a "crushing response," while state media reported explosions and injuries in the port cities of Sirik, Bandar Abbas, and on Qeshm Island.

Hours later, IRGC says in their "initial response" to the new US strikes they "destroyed 85 important US military installations in Port Salman, Bahrain, Bahrain's Fifth Naval Region, and Kuwait's Ali Salem Air Base, and shot down an enemy MQ9 drone that attempted to interfere in the operation." Sirens and air defenses were reported in Bahrain and Kuwait responding to Iranian missiles and drones.

The US earlier Tuesday, revoked a 60-day license that had authorized the sale of Iranian oil, a key component of the interim Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) signed in June between President Donald Trump and Tehran.

Iranian officials, including Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, condemned the actions as major violations of the agreement, asserting that "the era of bullying and extortion is over."

Latest escalation threatens to collapse ongoing peace negotiations aimed at permanently ending the war that began on February 28, 2026, following U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This comes amid a NATO summit in Ankara where Trump expressed disappointment in allied lack of support for the war.

Iran has accused the US of breaking the MOU by directing ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz via the Omani corridor instead of Iran-approved route.

The Joint Maritime Information Center has raised the threat level in the strategic waterway to "severe," warning mariners of continued hostile actions as diplomatic efforts to reopen the strait and address Iran's nuclear program face significant strain.

Marine Le Pen has confirmed she will run for the 2027 French presidency despite an appeals court upholding her controversial conviction for embezzling EU funds and sentencing her to a three-year prison term (with two years suspended) and a €100,000 ($114,000) fine.

Although the court ordered her to serve one year under house arrest with an electronic monitoring tag, Le Pen said that her immediate appeal to the Cour de Cassation (France's supreme court) suspends the monitoring order, allowing her to campaign freely while awaiting a final ruling.

The Paris appeals court reduced Le Pen's ban on holding public office from five years to 45 months, with 30 months suspended. Because the original ban took effect immediately in March 2025, she has already served the remaining 15-month active ban, technically clearing her to stand in the election scheduled for April 2027.

The judges explicitly noted they considered "voters' freedom of choice" when scaling back the ineligibility penalty, even while maintaining her guilt for misappropriating €2.8 million in European Parliament funds to pay National Rally staff between 2004 and 2016.

Le Pen, who previously lost presidential runoffs to Emmanuel Macron in 2017 and 2022, remains the figurehead of the nationalist National Rally (RN), though she handed the party leadership to her protégé Jordan Bardella in 2022.

"Yes, I am a candidate in the presidential election," Le Pen wrote in post on X. "With Jordan Bardella, we are going to launch this presidential campaign, and it is together that we will go convince the French that we are the only ones who can make good decisions to change their future."

Polls indicate both Le Pen and Bardella are leading contenders to succeed Macron, with Bardella prepared to run if Le Pen's legal battles ultimately prevent her candidacy.

The initial 2025 verdict had sparked international support for Le Pen from figures including US President Donald Trump and former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who framed the conviction as a political attempt to exclude her from the race.

Twin improvised explosive device (IED) blasts injured at least 18 people in central Damascus on Tuesday, occurring just as Emmanuel Macron arrived at the presidential palace for a landmark meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa (a.k.a. al-Jolani).

The explosions, caused by devices hidden in a parked car and a garbage bin near the Four Seasons Hotel where Macron had stayed, detonated while security forces were attempting to dismantle them; Macron was unharmed and his visit proceeded as planned.

Syria's Interior Ministry confirmed that the blasts occurred outside the designated security perimeter for the French president, who was already inside the palace and did not hear the explosions.

The attack wounded four police officers among the 18 injured, with no immediate fatalities reported, though footage showed burning vehicles and smoke rising near the Tourism Ministry and Damascus National Museum.

While no group has claimed responsibility, analysts suggest the timing indicates an attempt to target the French delegation or undermine the new government's image of stability ahead of al-Sharaa's scheduled meeting with US President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in Ankara.

Despite the violence, al-Sharaa and Macron emphasized their commitment to cooperation, with the French president stating that "nothing can smother the aspiration of Syrian women and men to live in a fully sovereign, safe, pluralistic, and united Syria."

This historic visit marks the first by a Western head of state since al-Sharaa's forces ousted Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, signaling a shift in international relations despite al-Sharaa's past leadership of the al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group.

Macron, who advocated for lifting sanctions to aid reconstruction, oversaw the signing of several economic agreements, including a partnership with French shipping giant CMA CGM to manage air freight at Damascus International Airport; discussions with TotalEnergies regarding new energy exploration contracts; and a process to return $58.3 million (€51 million) in assets confiscated from the late Rifaat al-Assad.