The US is launching a new wave of strikes in the escalating war over the Strait of Hormuz

International benchmark Brent crude was still trading above $85 a barrel on Wednesday as the escalating strikes in the Strait of Hormuz continued to disrupt oil and gas flows through key shipping lanes.

Brent crude shot up to $86 a barrel on Tuesday, a one-month high, after President Trump announced the US would restore its embargo on Iranian ports and related vessels.

Brent was trading early Wednesday at $85.50, while US benchmark Texas Intermediate was trading at just under $80, both still well above pre-war levels, but below the peak of nearly $120 a barrel that Brent hit at the outbreak of the war.

The US military's Central Command announced a new wave of strikes in Iran on Wednesday morning, following a seven-hour overnight standoff.

“These strikes are designed to destroy the military capabilities that the Iranian military has used to attack commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz,” said a CENTCOM statement posted on social media.

The new strikes were announced just hours after the fourth attack in a row overnight, and the pace of attacks has increased since President Trump announced an end to the strike on July 8.

The latest round of US airstrikes overnight in Iran has injured more than 260 people, an official in Iran's health ministry said on Wednesday.

The comments of Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesman for the ministry, did not include the death toll figures.

In another statement, an Iranian government spokesman said at least 30 people had been killed “in recent days,” without specifying specific dates.

The Kuwaiti military said on Wednesday morning local time that it was facing a “drone attack” from Iran, hours after it announced that it had shot down dozens of drones and missiles and reported an Iranian strike on a Kuwaiti warship.

Bahrain also said its warning sirens sounded.

Meanwhile, Jordan's military said on Wednesday it had shot down three missiles from Iran, as Tehran pressured US allies to respond to US strikes.

The US military also lifted its naval blockade of Iran and stepped up its airstrikes earlier on Wednesday.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Wednesday morning that it had completed a seven-hour wave of attacks on Iran “to improve Iran's ability to threaten commercial vessels and personnel.”

Days of retaliatory strikes in the Middle East by Iran and the US, as well as efforts by both nations to control the Strait of Hormuz, threaten to return the region to endless war.

US Central Command said it struck dozens of Iranian targets within seven hours on Tuesday evening, including missile and drone sites and “coastal defense systems.”

The objective was to continue to degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian personnel,” CENTCOM said in a post to X after the strikes were completed.

CENTCOM has hit Iran four nights in a row.

President Trump told Fox News that US strikes against Iran could be “really bad” next week, with attacks on Iranian bridges and power plants.

“We're going to hit them hard tonight. We're going to hit them hard tomorrow night. We're going to hit them hard the night after,” he said. “And next week, it will be worse for them, because next week the power plants will come, next week the bridges will come.”

The president continued: “We will destroy all their power plants, we will destroy all their bridges. Unless they come to the table and negotiate.”

Mr. Trump has threatened to strike Iranian bridges and power plants in the past. Experts say attacks on civilian infrastructure could amount to war crimes, although the Trump administration has said it will reach legal targets used by the military.

The president also told Fox News' Trey Yingst that his representatives sent a message to Iran earlier Tuesday, urging them to “make a deal.”

“We are very careful with the residents, as you know. But I said, 'You better make a deal, you won't be left with anything,'” he said.