US Launches New Wave of Strikes Against Iran

WASHINGTON:
The US military conducted a new round of strikes against Iran, US Central Command said early on Thursday (Indian time).

“At 3 p.m. ET (1900 GMT), U.S. forces launched operations for a second wave of strikes today against Iran,” the command wrote in a post on X. “The strikes are targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.”

Earlier on Wednesday (local time), the command said that it had begun launching a wave of strikes against Iran at 6 a.m. Eastern Time (1000 GMT), reports Xinhua news agency.

During the 90-minute wave, the forces launched precision munitions against coastal defence systems and cruise missile storage and launch sites on Greater Tunb Island.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday that it conducted retaliatory strikes against the US military facilities in Bahrain and Jordan, attacking their military infrastructure, aircraft shelters, key command centres and strategic drones, local media reported.

In a statement, the IRGC said its Aerospace Force targeted the US military base at al-Azraq in Jordan in response to renewed US aggression against Iran. The attack destroyed shelters which have US F-15, F-16, and F-35 fighter jets, and several MQ-9 strategic drones stationed at the base, Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

The IRGC claimed that a significant amount of US military attacks against Iran were conducted from American bases in Jordan. It urged the people of Jordan to end the presence of US forces in their country and prevent its territory from being used as a launchpad for attacks against Islamic nations and the Palestinian people. The IRGC also urged Jordanians to take up every opportunity to “destroy American institutions and expel the occupying US army from Jordan.”

In a separate statement, the IRGC said its navy attacked the US Fifth Fleet’s facilities in Bahrain, targeting the NSI management centre, large warehouses sheltering military parts and equipment, the command and control centre, and fuel storage facilities.

It said that the strikes were conducted in response to the US deploying its naval forces in the Indian Ocean and blocking maritime routes under the pretext of controlling the Strait of Hormuz, IRNA reported.

On Tuesday, the United States conducted a series of strikes against Iran after resuming a naval blockade of its ports in the strait.

Late Tuesday, the US military said it had hit dozens of military targets, including missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, and coastal defence systems, near the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian coastal areas in strikes lasting seven hours.