US completes strikes against Iran, releases videos showing strikes on 90 targets: Watch | Today’s news
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Wednesday (local time) that it had completed another round of strikes against Iran, which it said were aimed at further impairing Tehran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
US forces struck approximately 90 Iranian military targets along Iran’s coast, including air defense systems, coastal surveillance facilities, missile and drone depots, naval capabilities and military logistics infrastructure, CENTCOM said in a statement.
Second day of US strikes against Iran
It was the second round of US strikes in as many days against Iran following a resumption of hostilities between the two sides.
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Recent US strikes have targeted around 90 Iranian military sites, including air defense systems, missile and drone depots, coastal surveillance assets, naval capabilities and military logistics along Iran’s coast.
The US carried out the strikes in response to renewed hostilities, particularly after Iran attacked commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, marking the end of a fragile ceasefire.
Iran retaliated by launching missiles and drones at US targets in Bahrain and Kuwait and issued warnings of severe retaliation for any further US military action.
The U.S. revoked a waiver that allows Iran to sell oil in U.S. dollars and reinstated sanctions on Iran’s oil exports effective July 7, affecting new oil sales while allowing previously contracted shipments to continue.
The U.S. strikes further eroded trust between the U.S. and Iran, threatened ongoing peace talks by escalating military action, and led Iran to claim that the U.S. had violated the terms of its previous Memorandum of Understanding.
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“On July 7, CENTCOM forces struck approximately 80 Iranian military targets, including more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats, to impose a heavy cost on Iran’s ceasefire violations by attacking three commercial vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said.
The US also released a video showing an attack on Iranian targets.
Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations, including Bushehr, home to Iran’s nuclear power plant complex, and the southern port cities of Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Abbas and Sirik.
Videos posted on social media showed massive fires and explosions in Bushehr after the US strikes.
At least three people were killed in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province, state media said. In Iran, authorities said a strike killed an airport firefighter. The deaths followed at least nine deaths in Wednesday’s attacks in Iran.
There were also US strikes targeting Iranian bridges for the first time since April. State media reported a strike on a railway bridge in Iran’s northeastern Golestan province, and the Revolutionary Guards said two bridges were attacked on the route to Mashhad, where officials plan to bury the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday. However, it was not clear whether the attack on Golestan was the same one mentioned by the Guard.
Iran’s response
In response to the attacks, Iran fired missiles and drones at US targets in neighboring Bahrain and Kuwait. Iran has also warned the US that any further US military mishap would provoke severe retaliation.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf condemned the strikes and accused the US administration of sticking to a confrontational foreign policy, saying Washington failed to understand that “bullying and breaking promises are no longer free”.
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“America still hasn’t learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer free. I’ll put it bluntly: if you hit, you’ll get hit,” Ghalibaf warned during a public address.
Iran’s top official went on to say that the strategically important Strait of Hormuz chokepoint would remain firmly under Tehran’s sovereign control, making it clear that any decision regarding its operational maritime status would be dictated by Iran rather than Western intimidation.
“Don’t wave around unnecessarily, or you will sink even deeper. The Strait of Hormuz will only open with Iranian measures, not American threats,” Ghalibaf stated defiantly.
