The US has intensified its airstrike campaign against Iran in retaliation for Tehran's attacks on ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The American strikes hit an Iranian army barracks, killing at least seven troops and wounding hundreds of people across the country, according to Iranian officials. Days of back-and-forth strikes by the US and Iran across the Middle East have shredded the interim deal to end the conflict, and the region could tip back into all-out war.
The US has intensified its airstrike campaign against Iran in retaliation for Tehran's attacks on ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The American strikes hit an Iranian army barracks, killing at least seven troops and wounding hundreds of people across the country, according to Iranian officials.
Days of back-and-forth strikes by the US and Iran across the Middle East have shredded the interim deal to end the conflict, and the region could tip back into all-out war. The US first imposed a blockade in April and lifted it last month after signing the interim deal that paused the fighting and set a 60-day period for negotiations over issues such as Iran's nuclear program. Those talks have stalled as fighting over the Strait of Hormuz has intensified.
The US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, and Tehran effectively closed the waterway to shipping traffic, a move that sent the price of oil, fertilizer, and many other goods soaring far beyond the region. This has given Iran major leverage in negotiations. The rising prices pose a particular challenge to US President Donald Trump and his Republican Party, which hopes to retain control of Congress in November elections.
However, Washington has struggled to successfully reopen the waterway. About 24 hours after the blockade went into effect, the US military opened fire on and disabled a merchant vessel. Iran's parliament speaker and lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said Iran was prepared for a fuller military confrontation if the US does not live up to the terms of the interim deal. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened to halt all energy exports from the Middle East over the blockade.
The US carried out a wave of strikes, hitting dozens of targets overnight, and then resumed striking Iran during daylight. Another wave of strikes began late Wednesday. Central Command said it spotted a Curacao-flagged oil tanker sailing toward Kharg Island and, after the ship ignored multiple warnings, a US aircraft disabled the merchant vessel by firing hellfire missiles into the ship's smokestack.
In addition to the now-disabled Belma, the US military said it also had to speak with two other commercial vessels, but they complied with their instructions to turn away. The US military disabled at least eight merchant vessels during the first round of the blockade, including one strike that left three sailors dead. Among the US military's targets this week was Greater Tunb Island, which is viewed as a strategic point in the Strait of Hormuz.
Central Command said the attack targeted Iranian defense and missile sites. Iran took control of three islands - Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb - from what would become the United Arab Emirates in 1971. The UAE has sought to reclaim them. Some analysts have suggested that if the US seized the islands, they could allow it to control the strait.
The US military said its bombing campaign hit targets along Iran's southern coast in Bandar Abbas, Khormuj, Ahvaz, Qeshm, Bushehr, and Kuh-e Stak. Another strike targeted a barracks for Iran's 388th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, which operates tanks and armored vehicles, in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iranian state television reported. The report said Americans fired at least 13 missiles in the attack and the seven dead included conscripts and career soldiers. A number of troops were wounded.
More than 35 people have been killed and more than 300 wounded by US airstrikes in recent days, said Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesperson for the Iranian Health Ministry. At least 72 people are hospitalized, he added. The announcement marked the first overall toll given by Iranian authorities for this round of fighting. The number of wounded was far larger than for any other recent violence between Iran and the US.
The army said it would make a decisive response, according to state TV. US Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads Central Command, said in a statement that Iran had launched dozens of missiles and drones at neighboring Gulf Arab countries. Missile-alert warnings sounded Wednesday in Bahrain and Kuwait as they faced incoming Iranian fire - a daily occurrence recently
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