The United States has reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports after another night of strikes and counterattacks, less than a month after Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum meant to pull the conflict back.
US Central Command said Wednesday that American forces launched a seven-hour wave of attacks at about 02:00 GMT, hitting “dozens of military targets” near the Strait of Hormuz and along Iranian coastal areas. CENTCOM said aircraft, drones and naval vessels were used against Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities and coastal defence systems.
Iranian media said US missiles hit a naval watchtower in Chabahar, a facility described as serving maritime security and fishermen’s search-and-rescue operations. Iran’s Student News Network said a military base in Bampur, in Sistan and Baluchestan province, was also struck.
Iranian Health Ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said more than 260 people were injured in the overnight US attacks. Tehran said more than 30 civilians were killed in the latest round of strikes.
US forces are now blocking traffic to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it launched retaliatory drone and missile attacks on US military assets in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan overnight.
Kuwait’s army said it was responding to Iranian missile and drone attacks and urged the public to follow official safety instructions. Kuwait’s Ministry of Defence said a Kuwaiti Naval Force vessel was hit, wounding four personnel. Bahrain activated air-raid alerts, while Jordan’s military said its air defences intercepted four Iranian ballistic missiles that entered its airspace.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi declared Tuesday that the memorandum with the US was no longer valid. The IRGC later threatened to halt regional energy exports, saying: “The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one.”
At the United Nations, Iran’s ambassador Amir-Saeid Iravani wrote to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that “America is an aggressor, not a victim.”
