Donald Trump ordered another new blitz on Iran as hopes of an end to the war fade further. The US military said it launched a “seven-hour wave” overnight, striking “dozens” of targets near the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian coastal areas.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed to have destroyed facilities at the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain in a “crushing response” to the attacks. Air raid sirens were activated in Bahrain, but the US military has not commented on the claims. Tehran has often made claims about targeting American bases, which have later turned out to be false.
US Central Command said fighter jets, drones and naval assets launched attacks against Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities and “coastal defence systems”.
The attacks were carried out to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews”, it added.
It represents the fourth day in a row that the two countries have exchanged fire.
Iranian state media also reported strikes on the city of Bushehr — where the regime’s only working nuclear plant is located — and on Qeshm Island.
The assaults came shortly after US forces resumed blockading Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, despite the US President reversing his plan of a 20% levy on all cargo travelling through the key trade route.
Iran has increased attacks on US allies and commercial shipping in the region in response, with traffic through the Strait of Hormuz plummeting.
Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard has claimed the narrow waterway will remain closed “until the end of America’s evils”.
They also alleged to have struck a US logistics facility in Kuwait’s Mina Abdullah and a US base in Jordan.
Mr Trump has threatened to strike Iranian civil infrastructure, warning: “Next week it gets really bad for them.”
He told Fox News: “We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”
The US and Iran last month signed off on an interim deal to bring an end to the war.
The memorandum of understanding committed the two sides to further talks to reach a final agreement over 60 days — that period is now around halfway through.
