Rezaei said on Sunday that ships entering the proposed restricted area with the intention of passing through the Strait of Hormuz would face sanctions.

"We will declare this area a forbidden zone, meaning that any ship that enters this zone with the intention of passing through the Strait of Hormuz and is identified, we will be placed on the sanctions list," Rezaei explained.

He also rejected claims that the Strait of Hormuz remains open to routine maritime traffic, describing them as a "big lie".

Rezaei claimed the number of ships passing through the waterway had fallen from more than 100 per day to seven or eight. He said most of those vessels were carrying food and basic commodities imported by Iran.

He also claimed Iran had conducted its first test of an anti-ship missile against a US carrier.

"For the first time, from the 12-day war until now, we were able to test our first anti-ship missile over a US carrier 48 hours ago; a real hell was created," he said.

Rezaei also claimed Iranian forces had struck US bases in Jordan and Erbil during recent attacks. He said Tehran had identified the targets in advance and that one strike hit a site in Jordan without air defence.

Turning to Lebanon, Rezaei said he was confident the country would "rise again", warning that if the wrath of the Lebanese people were unleashed, "it will leave nothing of Israel ."

His comments followed another escalation at sea. US Central Command said it struck three Iranian crude oil tankers on Saturday after Iran's Revolutionary Guard launched ballistic missiles at two US Navy warships.

The attacks ended a period of relative calm and renewed tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, a major global oil shipping route.

Tehran and Washington previously signed a Pakistan and Qatar-mediated memorandum of understanding on June 18, opening the way for negotiations after an earlier halt in hostilities.

The talks have since stalled, with maritime security and passage through the Strait of Hormuz becoming major points of dispute. Both sides have accused the other of violating the agreement.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said Iran had been close to completing the weapon when the US detected it.

"They were trying to build a rocket that drops mines. Who does that? Did you ever build a rocket that dropped? I never heard of such a thing. But that's what they were doing. They were building it. It was almost finished, so we took it out. We saw that they were building it. We see everything that they're doing. They can't move," he said.

Trump then made a striking claim about the extent of US surveillance of Iran.

"They can't go to the bathroom without us seeing it. So we saw that. We took it out," he added.

His remarks came after the US and Iran exchanged strikes this week for the first time in a month.

US forces said they struck Iranian military targets around the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by launching missiles and drones towards US bases and other sites across the region.

Iran also accused the US of striking a wedding party in Sirik, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries. Washington denied targeting civilians.

The night before the attack, Motahreh spoke excitedly about upcoming holidays, weddings and clothes she wanted to buy. She ate a Ramadan pre-fast meal before her mother tucked her into bed.

“I never saw her again. (That was) the last time,” the 44-year-old mother said.

Motahreh woke before her parents and took a bus to Shajareh Tayebeh school. Hours later, attacks on Iran began and Zakeri received a call asking her to collect her daughter.

She arrived after the school had been struck.

Motahreh was among at least 155 people killed, most of them children , in what Iran says was the deadliest strike reported during the war.

Her body was recovered later that day and identified “by her earrings and bracelet.”

Six months later, much of the school remains in ruins. Portraits of the children killed now surround collapsed walls and twisted steel , while Iranian flags fly above the rubble.

Iran says two separate U.S. Tomahawk missiles struck the school. Neither the United States nor Israel has officially claimed responsibility. Amnesty International blamed the U.S., while The New York Times reported that a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile hit the school.

Since an April ceasefire, the intense bombardments have largely stopped, but diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled.

Zakeri chose not to see her daughter’s body after it was recovered because she feared the sight would replace her memories of Motahreh.

“She was very loving, cheerful and really energetic,” she said.

“Now, our house is completely quiet.”

Persian literature teacher Yaghoub Yazdanpanah also remembers receiving urgent calls telling him to collect his 6-year-old daughter Fatemeh as strikes hit Iran.

Then came another call informing him that her school had been struck.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” the 34-year-old said.

Yazdanpanah rushed towards the school but encountered traffic as fire and thick smoke rose over the area.

The scale of the attack became clear when he reached the scene.

“I couldn’t breathe. I went and sat in a corner. I had collapsed and couldn’t really stand on my feet,” he said.

Fatemeh’s body was found later that day.

Painter Javad Shahrjou also rushed to the school searching for his youngest son, Alireza. He said a second missile strike blew him and his motorcycle away shortly after he arrived.

“When I entered the yard, children were in pieces ... a head here, a foot there. A girl was falling from the second floor,” he said.

His 7-year-old son was recovered three days later and identified through his underwear, socks and shoes.

“He was all charred,” Shahrjou said.

Authorities plan to preserve the damaged school as a memorial. Search operations are also continuing for three missing children.

For some parents, returning to the site remains too difficult.

“It’s very difficult for me after what I had seen up close,” Yazdanpanah said.

Instead, families visit the cemetery where their children are buried.

Arash Tondro, who lives near the school and lost an 8-year-old relative, questioned why the site was hit.

“The place where the school was had been a military base about 10 or 12 years ago,” he said.

Now, he said, “there is absolutely no military site or anything.”

Zakeri continues to visit Motahreh’s grave but says her grief has made thinking about the future difficult.

“Imagining the future is very difficult for me,” she said.

“We have no plans at all. We just can’t bring ourselves to go anywhere or do anything.”

Speaking to reporters in Washington, Trump said the United States was maintaining pressure on Tehran and insisted Iran could not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.

"We're doing very well against the Islamic Republic of Iran. We're doing extremely well. They would like to do something, but I say they're not ready yet. They need more of the same. They're not ready yet. They got some evil intentions. We cannot let them have a nuclear weapon," he said.

Earlier, Trump told one media outlet he was considering a "massive attack" that would be "bigger than ever before" and said he was "close to making a decision."

A Pakistan-brokered Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the United States and Iran in June to halt the war that began on February 28.

Despite the agreement, fighting has resumed, with Washington carrying out repeated strikes on Iranian targets while Tehran has launched attacks on US assets across the region.

Footage showed medics evacuating patients from the hospital as the blasts sent shockwaves through the facility.

"Four explosions in a row occurred, so much so that the blast wave spread throughout, and the patients, even those downstairs, were truly affected by a very heavy wave," one nurse said, adding that breathing equipment for some patients had been shaken.

"It was so close that we thought perhaps the entire hospital was hit. Really, the entire staff, patients, and companions, just rushed out," he continued.

The nurse described how patients in different conditions were quickly evacuated from the building.

"The patients were in different conditions, in the paediatric ward, the baby was in the mother's arms... One was taken in a wheelchair, the other was taken out with help, everyone was evacuated."

The United States had not commented on the reported strikes at the time of publication.

Early on Thursday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed it had launched an "evening wave of strikes against Iran" on July 15.

According to CENTCOM, the operation targeted Iranian command centres, air defence sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities to "further degrading Iran's ability to threaten innocent mariners operating aboard commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz."

Iran responded by launching attacks on what it described as American military and naval positions across the region.

Speaking at the 2026 Defence and Innovation Summit in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, Trump said the United States had acted because Iran had failed to comply with its obligations.

"I had to take tough action because they did not obey what they're supposed to obey," he said.

Trump added that he believed the conflict was moving in Washington's favour.

"We'll have Iran defeated soon," he stated.

His remarks came as fighting between the United States and Iran intensified.

Earlier on Wednesday, US Central Command confirmed two additional waves of strikes against Iranian targets.

Tehran responded by saying it "should not be afraid of war or negotiation" and described the Strait of Hormuz as "Iran's invincible red line."

Iran also announced it had launched retaliatory strikes against US targets across the Gulf .