
US forces have reportedly launched another retaliatory strike against Iran. Several targets - including air defense sites, missile and drone depots, and surveillance infrastructure - were attacked, according to the regional command Centcom. "It's a larger attack than last night," a senior US official told Fox News.
Centcom further stated that this was a “direct response to ongoing Iranian attacks on merchant vessels.” Merchant ships will continue to pass through the Strait of Hormuz despite the attacks.
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, citing military sources, reported explosions near the city of Sirik and on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. A radio tower and a village were reportedly hit. The reports could not be immediately verified. According to IRIB, four shells also fell on the outskirts of the Iranian port city of Bandar-Lengeh in Hormozgan province.
Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on US military targets in Kuwait and Bahrain. In the early hours of the morning, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ naval and air forces, in a joint missile and drone operation, destroyed eight key US military infrastructure targets in the two countries, according to a statement released by the IRGC via its Telegram channel, Sepah News.
The targets were located at the US Ali Al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait and the US 5th Fleet base in Mina Salman, Bahrain. The strikes were a response to the latest US aggression, the statement continued. The US had thus violated the framework agreement with Tehran to end the war and the existing ceasefire.
The Revolutionary Guards further stated that violating the ceasefire would lead to the “complete cessation of all diplomatic processes.” Any aggression by the enemy would be met with a devastating response.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump accused Iran on his TruthSocial platform of "violating the ceasefire agreement AGAIN!" In his post, the US president questioned Iran's ability to learn from its mistakes and issued a new threat.
“United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage sites, as well as coastal radar sites, in violation of the Armistice Agreement, AGAIN! It is very possible that they will never learn! There may come a point when we will no longer be able to be reasonable and will be forced to militarily finish the job we started so successfully. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist! President DJT,” said US President Donald Trump.
This was the second US strike on Iran since the signing of the framework agreement between the two countries in mid-June. Just on Saturday evening, the US had reported airstrikes targeting Iranian missile and drone storage sites, as well as coastal radar installations - in response to the attack on a cargo ship on Thursday.