CENTCOM Strikes Bushehr, Site of Iran's Only Nuclear Power Plant, as Trump Declares Ceasefire Over

CENTCOM confirmed Monday it carried out a five-hour strike campaign against six Iranian locations, including Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa, and Bandar Abbas. Bushehr is the only city in Iran with a known functioning civilian nuclear power plant.

This is the latest escalation in a fight that reignited in early July, when Iran resumed attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, this time hitting two UAE-flagged tankers and pushing Brent crude above $86 a barrel. That renewed campaign follows the original Operation Epic Fury strikes President Trump ordered in June 2025, and a ceasefire reached in April that briefly held before a memorandum of understanding in late June, under which Iran agreed to stop interfering with Gulf shipping. Tehran broke that commitment within days.

Trump declared the ceasefire dead last week in a post on Truth Social. "The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue 'talks.' We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!" he wrote. Talks, apparently, are still on the table even as bombs fall.

CENTCOM said the strikes targeted "Iranian coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites, and maritime capabilities" to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten shipping lanes, according to Breitbart's account of the command's statement. More than 50,000 U.S. troops remain deployed across the region.

What Got Hit at Bushehr, and What Didn't

Iranian state media confirmed strikes hit Bushehr, but did not report any damage to the nuclear power plant itself. Deputy provincial governor Ehsan Jahanian said only that "four points in the city of Bushehr were hit by enemy projectiles," according to Iranian state media as cited by Breitbart. No mention of the reactor. No radiation concern raised. That's a meaningful omission if a nuclear facility had actually been struck, and Tehran has not been shy about publicizing perceived American escalation for propaganda purposes.

U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear-linked sites go back to June 2025, when the original Operation Epic Fury campaign targeted nuclear infrastructure directly. Whether the current round of strikes deliberately targeted anything nuclear-adjacent within Bushehr city, versus coastal defense and missile infrastructure located there, is not clarified by CENTCOM's public statement or by Iranian reporting.

Repeated U.S. operations near a functioning nuclear power plant carry real risk regardless of intent. A stray munition or a targeting error near reactor infrastructure could turn a regional shipping dispute into an environmental and diplomatic catastrophe. Neither CENTCOM's statement nor Iranian state media reporting, as relayed by Breitbart, indicates the reactor was hit or damaged.

The Economic Angle Trump Is Watching

While bombs were falling on Iran, Trump was fielding questions in Washington about what renewed strikes mean for gas prices and inflation. The Tuesday Consumer Price Index reading showed inflation at 3.5% in June, the largest one-month decrease since April 2020, according to the Daily Signal.

Asked directly whether that trend would hold into July given the resumed strikes, Trump told the Daily Signal, "I think so," pointing to the CPI report as vindication. "We had the worst inflation in history, and the history of our country," he said. "Prices are way down. Prices are coming way down, and we're going to bring them much lower yet."