New Delhi, Jul 16: Iran launched fresh attacks on US military bases in neighbouring Gulf countries while the United States carried out another wave of overnight strikes for the sixth day on military targets across Iran.
According to a BBC report, Tehran said it had targeted US military facilities in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain, as the sixth day of renewed hostilities further weakened efforts to end the conflict.
The US military said it carried out a six-hour operation targeting command centres, air defence systems, and coastal surveillance facilities, including in Bandar Abbas and Greater Tunb Island, to “degrade Iran’s ability to threaten innocent mariners” in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian media reported explosions in several areas, including Tehran, Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, and Chabahar, where air defence systems were activated.
Kuwait said it intercepted drones, while Bahrain advised residents to move to safe places. Iran also claimed it had targeted US communication systems and fuel storage facilities in Jordan.
US President Donald Trump had earlier warned Iran that it “better behave” or face more military action if it refused to return to negotiations. He also threatened to target Iran’s energy infrastructure.
Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Tehran had “no reason” to honour any agreement that did not serve the country’s interests and insisted that Iran’s national security depended on maintaining its control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s official news agency IRNA quoted Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, as warning that Iran would retaliate forcefully if the United States attacked the country’s infrastructure.
According to IRNA, Zolfaghari said Iran would never allow the US to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz, describing it as the country’s “invincible red line”.
He warned that if Washington targeted Iran’s civilian or strategic infrastructure, Tehran would strike “all the infrastructure still standing in the region”.
He said that Iran’s response would not be proportional but “overwhelmingly superior”, with strikes that would be “fiercer, wider-ranging and more ruinous than ever”.
IRNA also reported that the US military launched another wave of strikes on Iranian targets and fired Hellfire missiles to disable an oil tanker allegedly attempting to sail towards an Iranian port in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran, in turn, said it had carried out retaliatory attacks against US assets in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan. The Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil shipping route, remains closed after Iran blocked the waterway following US-Israeli strikes.
The renewed tensions have disrupted tanker traffic and pushed up global oil prices. The US resumed its blockade of Iranian ports.
In response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned that other oil and gas export routes serving US interests and those of its allies could also be targeted.
Despite the military escalation, US President Trump welcomed Iran’s release of US detainee Dena Karari, describing it as a gesture of goodwill.
Karari was reported to be on her way back to the US.
