US Intercepts Iranian Missiles Targeting Forces in Middle East
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- CENTCOM reported Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran at 5:45pm ET on Tuesday (Jul 28) in an attempted surprise attack on US forces based in the Middle East.
- US Central Command said all Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted, though it did not specify the areas Iran had targeted.
- The interception ended a days-long respite after both sides held fire over the weekend, following nearly two weeks of nightly US strikes on Iran and repeated missile and drone salvos by Tehran targeting Washington's allies around the Gulf.
- The mid-July flare-up began after Iran attacked several ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the source notes.
- Oil prices had plummeted following the weekend lull in fighting and as President Donald Trump said there was a "good chance" of progress in negotiations to end the war.
- Both sides had observed a weekend ceasefire that the new Iranian missile salvo now shatters, with no immediate indication from CENTCOM of how the US would respond.
Why it matters: The interception ended a brief weekend ceasefire that had allowed oil prices to drop and Trump to publicly float optimism about negotiations. With Iran resuming strikes within 48 hours of that lull, the diplomatic opening Trump cited is now visibly premature, and energy markets that had priced in de-escalation face renewed disruption risk tied to the Strait of Hormuz corridor.
