US and Iran Exchange Strikes Amid Escalating Tensions

Washington/Tehran (ANTARA) - The United States has launched attacks against 80 Iranian targets, and in response, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) struck 85 American military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait, in a new chapter of rising regional tensions.

The US has completed a new wave of attacks against Iran, hitting more than 80 targets, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Tuesday (8 July) local time.

Iranian state media outlet Press TV reported new explosions on Qeshm Island, with several blasts also heard on Kharg Island.

Iran’s supreme joint military command declared that its armed forces would deliver a “devastating response” to the US attacks and would not allow American interference in the management of the Strait of Hormuz.

Press TV reported on Wednesday (9 July) that a massive explosion shook Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait. In addition, several explosions were heard in Bahrain on Wednesday, and the interior ministry said sirens had been sounded across the country.

Parliament Speaker and Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on Wednesday that violations of “Iran’s adjustment” in the Strait of Hormuz, continued threats of further attacks, the reimposition of oil sanctions, strikes on southern Iranian territory, and Israel’s continued aggression against Lebanon all constitute major breaches of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) made with the US.

“The era of bullying and extortion is over. It will achieve nothing,” he wrote in a post on the social media platform X.

US Central Command previously said American forces launched the attacks on Iran after three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz were attacked.

The assault on the three oil tankers also prompted the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under the US Department of the Treasury on Tuesday to revoke the licence that had previously allowed the sale of Iranian oil until 21 August.