By Al-Fassel | 2026-07-23

The Iranian regime has spent the past couple of weeks rebuilding a familiar narrative of victimhood.

However, the timeline tells a different story, one built entirely from dated, sourced events rather than state messaging.

The regime fired on commercial ships days before the United States resumed strikes then closed a global shipping lane.

In the Islamic Republic's own actions

On June 17, the Islamic Republic and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding that began a 60-day countdown toward a permanent settlement.

The ceasefire held, the Strait of Hormuz reopened and Iran resumed exporting oil without interference for nearly three weeks.

Days later, on July 7, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired missiles at three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

The following day, US Central Command (CENTCOM) responded by striking multiple IRGC targets.

"The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway," CENTCOM said in a statement July 8.

On July 12, the IRGC Navy declared the strait "closed until further notice," vowing to block all traffic until US regional involvement ends.

The International Maritime Organization has already ruled that a transit-passage regime cannot be suspended through unilateral action by any single state.

The timeline of aggression

• June 17 -- The MoU signed, ceasefire holds, strait reopens.
• July 7 -- IRGC fires on three commercial ships in unprovoked attacks.
• July 11 -- IRGC strikes another ship and closes the Strait "until further notice." US announces strikes on approximately 140 targets.
• July 12 -- The Iranian regime retaliates with drone and missile attacks against six Gulf states: Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, and the UAE.
• July 13 -- A third round of US strikes hits additional IRGC targets as the exchange continues.

The Iranian regime continues targeting neighboring countries, even though none of them have attacked Iran or are parties to the conflict.

Striking uninvolved neighbors cannot be defended as self-defense under any recognized standard of international law or basic morality.

Oman was, at that very moment, working to broker de-escalation talks between Washington and the Islamic Republic on the regime's behalf.

The sequence is unambiguous once the dates are laid side by side without the framing Iranian state media prefers.

The Iranian regime attacked first, closed a global waterway and only afterward faced retaliation that it now portrays as unprovoked aggression.