Iran hits US military targets in Gulf, lays slain leader to rest

Iran struck US military targets in Gulf states after fresh American airstrikes, while Tehran pursued diplomacy with Oman and Türkiye to prevent wider regional escalation

Iranian armed forces launched attacks on United States (US) military infrastructure in 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. 

The attacks came on the day that Iran buries its slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the shrine of Mashhad, in 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 February 28. 

Khamenei’s body was carried by truck slowly through crammed streets towards the Shrine of Imam Reza. Black-clad mourners waved Iranian flags, photographs of the late leader and red placards with revolutionary slogans. 

 

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy said the US attacks and intervention in redirecting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz were disrupting its gradual reopening. 

The Guards said the number of vessels transiting the strait under Iranian supervision had recovered to about 50 per cent of pre-war levels over the past two weeks, adding that permission was being granted only to ships using routes designated by Tehran. Any further US intervention will draw a “crushing response”, the Guards said. 

The US military said on Wednesday its latest strikes were aimed at keeping the Strait of Hormuz open after it said Iranian forces had struck three tankers in the area. While Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, analysts say Tehran uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations. 

Oil prices, which had spiked earlier fell back on Thursday as investors weighed whether the flare-up was tactical and temporary or might cause a complete ceasefire collapse. 

Iranian officials said the US attacks had killed 14 people and injured 78 across five provinces on July 8 and 9, state media reported. Fars said one US strike had hit a rail bridge used for trade with Russia and China. Explosions were heard on Thursday morning in Iran’s Bushehr province and in Bandar Abbas, Mehr news agency reported. 

Bushehr is home to a Russian-built nuclear power plant and a local official later told state media that a US projectile had hit the perimeter area of the facility. It was hit several times during the current conflict before an April 8 ceasefire. 

US strikes also hit a military site and a fishing dock in Bushehr province, its deputy governor said. 

Iran’s army said in a statement  that it had launched attacks at US Patriot systems with drones in Kuwait, an early warning site in Qatar (satellite antenna) and a fuel storage of the US army in Bahrain. 

Sirens also sounded in Jordan on Thursday after missiles launched from Iran were detected in Jordanian airspace, the state news agency reported. Eight missiles were intercepted, with no injuries or damage reported, it said. The US Central Command said on Wednesday its forces had struck approximately 90 Iranian military targets. “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. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held separate phone calls with his Omani and Turkish counterparts and discussed latest developments in the region, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian foreign ministry said. They stressed the need to use diplomatic channels to prevent escalation, a ministry statement said. 

Araqhchi warned against any further US military “adventurism” after condemning US attacks on Iran as a violation of the Islamabad MoU in a phone call with Pakistan’s army chief, he said.