US strikes Iran again as Strait of Hormuz fighting expands
Iranian media reported blasts across Iran as Washington said it targeted forces tied to attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
The United States carried out another night of strikes on Iran on Monday, the ninth consecutive night of attacks reported by Al Jazeera and Reuters. The strikes underscored the collapse of a month-old ceasefire between Washington and Tehran as both sides contest shipping and military control around the Strait of Hormuz.
The US military said the operation targeted Iranian military capabilities used against commercial vessels and mariners moving through the strait, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. Iranian media reported explosions in several areas, from the Gulf coast to the country’s northwest.
Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB said blasts were heard in the port cities of Mahshahr and Imam Khomeini in Khuzestan province. IRIB also reported explosions near Sirik and Jask in Hormozgan province, along Iran’s southern coast, and near Khvormuj in Bushehr province.
IRIB said three explosions were heard near Tabriz in northwestern Iran. The semi-official Fars news agency said air defences were activated in Konarak and Chabahar, in Sistan and Baluchestan province.
Al Jazeera correspondent Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said the latest US attacks again appeared to focus on Iran’s southern coast. He said reported explosions in Tabriz, if confirmed, would mark the first strike on the northwestern city since the latest escalation began.
Iranian media also reported a fresh wave of Iranian missiles launched from Lorestan province toward US military assets in the region, Asadi said. Al Jazeera reported that Kuwait had earlier said it faced hostile drone threats, while air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain for a second time on Sunday.
Jordan’s military said it shot down three Iranian missiles after sirens sounded there, according to Al Jazeera. Kuwait’s government said a desalination plant was hit for a second straight day on Sunday, causing a fire, and described the attack as a direct strike on vital civilian infrastructure.
The fighting has also moved into commercial shipping lanes. Al Jazeera and Reuters reported that Washington says it is enforcing a naval blockade on Iranian ports, while Tehran says it is targeting ships that violate its rules for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Sunday that four vessels tried to pass through the strait on what it called an unsafe route with US support after ignoring IRGC warnings. The IRGC said two vessels turned back and two others were involved in an accident, but gave no further details.
US Central Command said it redirected six commercial vessels and disabled another ship to enforce compliance with the blockade, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. CENTCOM also said a US soldier was killed Saturday in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian drone.
CENTCOM said unidentified remains were found at the site of a deadly Iranian attack in Jordan on Friday and were being examined. Al Jazeera and Reuters reported that two US soldiers died in that attack and a third was listed as missing in action.
Al Jazeera and Reuters reported that 17 US service members have been killed since the war began and more than 420 have been wounded. They reported that the conflict began when the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, and that it has killed thousands of people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, while disrupting energy supplies and raising fears over global inflation.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.