File image.
The United States carried out another wave of strikes against Iran over the night of July 8 and 9, provoking a fierce response from the Islamic Republic.
In a statement, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said that its forces hit over 90 Iranian targets with the aim of “further degrading Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping and innocent civilian mariners in the Strait of Hormuz.”
The latest strikes targeted “air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities, and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline,” the command added, while noting the 80 targets struck the previous day.
“US forces remain vigilant, lethal, and prepared to execute operations directed by the commander in chief,” CENTCOM said.
As the strikes were taking place. U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that the Islamic Republic called, and that the Iranians “want to make a deal so badly.”
“I just don’t if they are worthy of making a deal. I don’t know if they are going to honor a deal, that’s the problem,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Asked why Iran would attack commercial ships as it did earlier in the week if it wants to reach an agreement as he claims, Trump said, “they’re sort of a crazy. They’re a little bit out of control, but they want to make a deal — badly.”
Explosions were reported in multiple locations along the Iranian coast. Warplanes are heard over Kish Island and multiple explosions rock the port cities of Bandar Abbas, Konarak and Chabahar, part of which have lost electricity, according to Iran’s official news agency IRNA reports.
Iranian state media also reported that explosions also have been heard in Bushehr, home to Iran’s nuclear power plant complex. Later, it was confirmed that a strike took place near the plant.
Iran’s foreign ministry denounces the U.S. strikes, which it says targeted civilian infrastructure including railway bridges, as a “gross war crime.”
The ministry, in a statement, said it “condemns in the strongest terms the aggressive attacks by the US terrorist army on several points in the southern coastal provinces and two bridges in the eastern provinces on the railway route to the holy city of Mashhad,” and calls the U.S. administration “evil and psychopathic.”
Meanwhile, the health ministry in the Islamic Republic said that two days of U.S. strikes killed 14 people and left 78 injured.
“Of the injured, 47 are still hospitalized, and the rest have been discharged after receiving medical care,” Hossein Kermanpour, the ministry’s head of public relations, posted on X.
The Iranian response came fast, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) first announcing that it struck U.S. military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait.
The guards said it struck “key infrastructure and facilities” at U.S. bases in Arifjan and Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, and Juffair and Sheikh Isa in Bahrain. Both countries confirmed that they were targeted with missiles and drones launched from the Islamic Republic.
It further warns its responses will expand to other bases across the region if U.S. attacks on the Islamic Republic are repeated.
Iran’s military later announced that it had struck targets in Qatar, in addition to others in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain with drones.
The military said that “in continuation of the attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s army on U.S. bases in the region,” it targeted a Patriot missile interceptor system in Kuwait, an early warning system in Qatar and fuel tanks in Bahrain with “a large number of various types of army kamikaze drones.”
The Islamic Republic expanded its response later in the day, reaching Jordan. The kingdom reported the interception of eight missiles launched from Tehran. No casualties or damages have been caused, according to the Jordanian state news agency.
Despite the escalation, the memorandum of understanding signed last month by the U.S. and Iran has not collapsed yet. The coming days will likely see more clashes. Eventually, war could resume, which would play in favor of Israel.
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