IN BRIEF
- The US military said on Wednesday that it had struck approximately 90 Iranian military targets.
- The Iranian army said it had targeted US assets in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain in response.
Iranian armed forces targeted United States military infrastructure in neighbouring Gulf states on Thursday following US strikes on Iran's southern coastal and eastern provinces, putting further strain on a three-week-old ceasefire agreement.
Iran was also preparing on Thursday to bury its slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the country's holiest shrine in Mashhad, in the northeast, the culmination of a week of mass funeral processions and rallies. Khamenei was killed in a US airstrike on the first day of the war on 28 February.
The US military said on Wednesday its latest strikes on Iran were aimed at keeping the Strait of Hormuz open after Iran targeted three tankers in the area.
The assault came hours after US President Donald Trump said he believed the interim ceasefire with Iran to be "over".
Iranian officials said the US attacks had killed 14 people and injured 78 across five provinces on 8 and 9 July, state media reported. The Fars news agency said one US strike had hit a rail bridge used for trade with Russia and China.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Several explosions were heard on Thursday morning in Iran's Bushehr province, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported. Bushehr is home to a Russian-built nuclear power plant.
US military sites in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain targeted
Iran's army said in a statement released by state media that it had targeted US Patriot systems with drones in Kuwait, an early warning site in Qatar (satellite antenna) and a fuel storage facility of the US army in Bahrain.
Kuwait said its armed forces had engaged with a cruise missile, three ballistic missiles and 10 drones in its airspace, and that one person had been injured from falling shrapnel.
Qatar, which hosts the largest US military base in the region and has often mediated between Washington and its adversaries, including Tehran, called for a return to diplomacy.
In a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani also condemned attacks targeting commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
While Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, analysts say Tehran uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations.
The Strait of Hormuz handled about a fifth of global oil supplies before the war erupted on 28 February with US and Israeli strikes against Iran.
Tehran has since taken effective control of the strait, allowing it to force a stalemate in its confrontation with the world's most powerful military.
"The US has yet to learn that bullying and breaking its commitments no longer come without a cost. Let me be clear: If you strike, you will be struck back," Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote on X.
"The Strait of Hormuz will be reopened only under Iranian arrangements, not through US threats," wrote Ghalibaf, who is also speaker of Iran's parliament.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Wednesday its forces had struck approximately 90 Iranian military targets, including air defence systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities, and military logistics infrastructure along Iran's coastline.
"The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway," CENTCOM said in a statement.
"This is in retribution for yesterday's bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday.
For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.
