WASHINGTON/TEHRAN – The United States launched another round of strikes against Iran on Thursday, the US Central Command said in a statement.

"At 2 p.m. ET today, U.S. forces began conducting a new wave of strikes against Iran for the sixth consecutive night to further degrade Iranian military capabilities," the statement said.

The developments came amid days of clashes between the United States and Iran despite a US-Iran peace memorandum of understanding signed in mid-June, under which the two sides were expected to begin negotiations within 60 days toward a final agreement.

Commercial vessels try to breach US blockade

Meanwhile, the Central Command said on X that US forces intercepted three commercial vessels attempting to breach the US naval blockade against Iran, after resuming blocking maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports on Tuesday.

The Central Command said US forces redirected the three vessels, disabled one that failed to comply, and boarded another "to ensure full compliance with the ongoing U.S. naval blockade against Iran".

"The Strait of Hormuz and the surrounding waters remain free and open, except for vessels attempting to violate America's steel wall blockade," CENTCOM said.

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Iran warns of 'crushing' regional infrastructure

In another development, Iran's main military command Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters warned that any US attack on Iranian power plants and bridges would trigger a devastating response against all infrastructure across West Asia, as Iranian forces struck US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

The warning came after Trump said Tuesday that the US would expand its strikes on Iran to target power plants and bridges next week unless Tehran agrees to negotiate.

The US military has launched several waves of strikes against Iran's southern provinces over the past few days, claiming that the attacks were in response to the Iranian armed forces targeting vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and aimed at "degrading Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping".

Ebrahim Zolfaghari, the headquarters' spokesman, issued the warning in a video message carried by Iranian media in response to recent threats by Trump to attack Iran's infrastructure if the country does not come to the negotiating table.

"The powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will crush everything that has still remained intact owing to Iran's decency," he said, if the US president follows through on threats against Iranian infrastructure.

Zolfaghari stressed that the Iranian armed forces' response will not be "an equal blow," but "more severe, widespread, and devastating than ever".

Houthis asked to close Bab el-Mandeb Strait

Meanwhile, Iran has requested Yemen's Houthis to remain ready for the closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in case the United States attacks Iranian power plants, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Reuters cited three sources, two senior Iranians and a regional source familiar with the matter, as saying that the idea had been discussed within Iran's leadership, and conveyed to the Houthi group.

Reuters also quoted a source close to the Houthis as saying that the group had completed preparations for attacking ships crossing the Bab el-Mandeb by deploying missiles and drones near the strait, which serves as the gateway to the Red Sea and a main route for global energy supplies.

Trump's claim of US citizen's release

Separately, Iran's judiciary denied Trump's claim that Tehran had released a US citizen detained since December 2024, saying no US prisoner or spy had been freed or exchanged.

Investigations showed "no American convicted prisoner or spy with the characteristics announced by Trump or with any other characteristics has been released from Iranian prisons or exchanged," the Mizan news agency of the judiciary reported.

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The report pointed to Trump's track record of making unsubstantiated claims, saying he had previously been "deceived by his lying sources in other cases".

Trump announced Wednesday that Iran had allowed the US citizen, later identified as Dena Karari, who had been trapped in Iran on bogus charges, to leave the country.