New intelligence reports have assessed that Iran now has a far better understanding of its capabilities and the limits of U.S. power.

© Emile Ducke for The New York Times

The bomb that hit the residential area was American, according to a weapons expert and a visual analysis by The Times. It killed five people and wounded 67 others, the Iranian authorities said.

The United States seems increasingly bogged down in Iran after six months of conflict, despite President Trump’s declarations of military dominance.

© Demetrius Freeman for The New York Times

The United States seems increasingly bogged down in Iran after six months of conflict, despite President Trump’s declarations of military dominance.

© Demetrius Freeman for The New York Times

Iranian officials said the strikes caused significant damage, including killing four people and injuring several dozens at a wedding. Iran said it retaliated by firing on U.S. bases in the region.

© Reuters

The U.S. military said its attacks against Iran were in response to a threat to the Strait of Hormuz.

© Reuters

Today, we hand the mic over to reporters covering diplomacy, the White House, the Middle East and more.

© Reuters

The roughly 30-square-mile island serves as a foothold for Iran’s military to advance its control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

© Reuters

The renewed attacks were the latest sign that the war that began six months ago appears far from over.

© Reuters

As with its approach to Hormuz, the US has mistaken applying pressure for an actual strategy. But Tehran has chips of its own to play

Donald Trump has found a new way to promise victory over Iran. After months of war have failed to force Iran’s capitulation or collapse, his administration has unveiled what the US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, calls Operation Economic Outcast: an effort to cut it off from what remains of the global economy and threaten foreign governments, banks and companies with sanctions if they continue doing business with Tehran.

There is no question that Iran is vulnerable. Its economy has been battered by years of sanctions, war and a months-long US naval blockade. Iranian officials acknowledge that oil exports and access to foreign currency have been severely constrained. Ordinary Iranians are already enduring high inflation, currency depreciation and worsening living standards. Further economic strangulation will inflict significant additional hardship.

Sina Toossi is a senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy, where his work focuses on US-Iran relations, US policy toward the Middle East and nuclear issues

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© Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP

© Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP

© Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP

The war has deteriorated over the past six months into Mr. Trump’s own version of a “forever war,” with no clear goals and no end in sight.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

Iranians have become increasingly desperate, as they grapple with an economic crisis made worse by the conflict and grow increasingly skeptical about President Trump’s motives.

© Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times

Iranians have become increasingly desperate, as they grapple with an economic crisis made worse by the conflict and grow increasingly skeptical about President Trump’s motives.

© Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has been a key mediator in the conflict, even as his country has blamed Tehran for hundreds of missile and drone attacks.

© Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters

The conflict with Iran is uniquely salient to the Virginia Beach voters deciding which party will win a critical House contest.

© Kristen Zeis for The New York Times

The U.S. has spent 20 years promising ‘crippling sanctions’ on Iran. But the latest effort comes with a reverse twist, after military action failed to accomplish President Trump’s goals.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged the effort was more of a warning shot that would begin a period of “quiet diplomacy.”

© Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Analysts say Tehran could intensify the dispute militarily after the United States announced new efforts to squeeze Iran’s economy. One Iranian official vowed that “not a single drop of oil” would leave the gulf.

© Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will hold a news conference outlining the new package of measures.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

Iran’s new hard-line national security adviser, Mohsen Rezaei, vowed to prevent “a single drop of oil” from leaving the region.

© Mohammed Salem/Reuters

President at rally in South Carolina makes comments on key strategic waterway and jokes about bombing Iran

Donald Trump called the strait of Hormuz “an American territory” on Friday, as the US continues its military blockade of Iran’s shipping and ports while Trump’s administration struggles to end its war with the country.

“We don’t even know if we won, because I view the strait of Hormuz as an American territory right now,” Trump said, addressing a crowd in South Carolina. He was campaigning for senator Darline Graham, who is running to permanently fill her late brother Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat.

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© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

For weeks, there has been no diplomatic progress, but also no full-scale fighting, as each side seems to believe it can hold out longer than the other.

© Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times

Iran has survived decades of sanctions. Faced with more, it is likely to escalate rather than surrender, analysts said.

© Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times

President Trump took aim at Oman, a U.S. ally that has been mediating the talks, as efforts to end a war he started have faltered.

© Al Drago for The New York Times

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment of hard-line loyalists to top jobs suggests he is prepared to keep the country on a war footing and to quash domestic dissent.

© Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times

President Trump said a cease-fire agreed in June would lead to limits on Iran’s nuclear program and finish the conflict, but the countries appear far apart.

© Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times

The United States and Iran are poised to blow past a deadline they had set themselves to broker terms on peace and Iran’s nuclear program.

© Ali Saeedi/Getty Images