US strikes in Iran strain talks as Tehran hits Gulf targets
CENTCOM said it hit about 90 Iranian military targets, while Iran retaliated against sites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
4 min read
The United States carried out a second night of air strikes in Iran, widening a military exchange that has put a June peace framework in doubt. US Central Command said Thursday’s strikes hit about 90 military targets, while Iranian officials and media reported deaths, damage to transport links and retaliatory attacks on US-linked sites in Gulf states.
Al Jazeera reported that at least 14 people have been killed and 78 wounded over two days of US attacks, including at least one member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iranian Ministry of Health spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said Thursday that 47 wounded people remained in hospital.
CENTCOM said the latest strikes were intended to reduce Iran’s ability to attack commercial ships and civilian mariners in the Strait of Hormuz. The US command said it had struck about 80 Iranian targets a day earlier after attacks on three commercial vessels in the strait, according to Al Jazeera.
US and Iranian media identified the vessels as the Marshall Islands-flagged, Qatar-owned M/T Al Rekayyat, the Saudi Arabia-flagged M/T Wedyan and the Liberian-flagged M/T Cyprus Prosperity. Tehran-based analyst Hossein Royvaran told Al Jazeera the tankers may have entered an area where Iranian teams were conducting mine-clearing work.
Al Jazeera reported that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed sharply, with traffic largely using a northern route approved by Iran. International Maritime Organization chief Arsenio Dominguez, quoted by NBC News, said about 6,000 sailors remained trapped around the strait and warned that seafarers were bearing the human cost of the conflict.
Iranian media said Thursday’s US strikes hit southern port areas including Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Kuhestak, Chabahar, Jask, Abu Musa island and Konarak. Mehr news agency reported explosions in Bushehr province, where Iran’s nuclear power plant is located.
Although CENTCOM described the targets as military, Iranian outlets reported damage to civilian infrastructure. Al Jazeera reported that at least one person was killed when airport facilities were hit in Iranshahr, near Pakistan, and that a railway bridge in Golestan province was struck. The IRGC said two bridges on the road to Mashhad were hit, and Iranian railway authorities said Tehran-Mashhad passenger service was suspended for repairs.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the US attacks and called Washington’s explanation a false pretext, according to Al Jazeera. The ministry also said the strikes on southern coastal provinces and railway bridges were a grave war crime and breached Articles 1 and 5 of the memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war.
The IRGC responded with attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, where US military assets are located, Al Jazeera reported. Al Jazeera correspondent Resul Serdar Atas said Iranian strikes targeted US facilities including Arifjan and Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, and Juffair and Sheikh Isa in Bahrain.
Kuwait’s defence ministry said one person was injured by falling debris and taken to hospital. Major-General Saud Abdulaziz al-Otaibi said Kuwait’s air defences intercepted three ballistic missiles, one cruise missile and 10 suicide drones.
The escalation has placed the June 17 memorandum of understanding under renewed strain. Al Jazeera reported that the Pakistan-brokered agreement paused fighting, opened a 60-day talks process due to expire August 21, allowed ships to pass through Hormuz for at least 60 days, lifted the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, waived sanctions on Iranian oil and outlined plans to release frozen Iranian assets. Washington has since revoked the oil sanctions waiver, according to Al Jazeera.
At the NATO summit in Ankara on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said the agreement was “over” in his view, while saying US negotiators could keep talking for now. On Air Force One on Thursday, Trump said a return to full-scale war remained possible but also claimed Tehran wanted a deal, according to Al Jazeera.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Muhammad Ghalibaf accused Washington of bullying in a post on X and warned that US strikes would be met with Iranian attacks. Iran also filed a complaint against the US with the United Nations Security Council and the UN secretary-general, according to Al Jazeera.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.