US and Iran trade strikes as ceasefire comes under growing strain
Iran’s IRGC says it attacked sites linked to the US military in Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman after latest US bombardment. The United States has conducted
Iran’s IRGC says it attacked sites linked to the US military in Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman after latest US bombardment. The United States has conducted a new wave of strikes against Iran, prompting retaliatory attacks by Iranian forces across the Gulf region in another escalation that further undermined an already fragile truce. In the early hours of Monday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US forces in the Middle East, said the US hit dozens of targets at several locations across Iran. It said US forces struck “military air-defense systems, coastal radar sites and missile and drone capabilities and small boats” using fighter aircraft, naval vessels, one-way attack aerial drones and, for the first time, one-way attack sea drones. It said the operation was intended to degrade “Iran’s ability to continue attacking international shipping flowing through the Strait of Hormuz”.
Iranian officials said US strikes hit eight cities in Khuzestan province, killing one security guard and injuring four people at a water station in Mahshahr. Iranian forces responded hours later with attacks on US military targets in several Gulf countries. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had targeted a long-range FPS air surveillance radar in Bahrain, a vessel detection radar system in Oman and a US Army surface-to-surface missile base in Kuwait. The IRGC claimed the strike in Kuwait destroyed two missile launchers and nearby storage facilities, causing significant damage. Bahrain issued several alerts urging residents to remain calm and head to the nearest safe location, while Jordanian authorities said four missiles that entered the country’s airspace from Iran were intercepted. Monday’s attacks followed a separate round of US strikes on Saturday, when the US said it hit about 140 targets across Iran in retaliation for IRGC attacks on commercial shipping and Tehran’s announcement that the Strait of Hormuz had been closed.
The latest exchange comes as a Memorandum of Understanding agreed by Washington and Tehran in mid-June, which extended an April ceasefire and began to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, appears increasingly close to collapse. The agreement established a framework aimed at ending the war which began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, and opening negotiations on more contentious issues, including Iran’s nuclear programme. But control of the Strait of Hormuz – through which about 20 percent of global energy exports passed before the conflict erupted – has remained one of the main sticking points. US President Donald Trump has been pushing to bring down oil and gas prices ahead of this year’s midterm elections, while Tehran insists that vessels must transit through the shipping lane closest to its coastline to preserve its control over traffic.
The BriefWire