US launches 7th night of strikes as Iran attacks military sites

TEHRAN

U.S. forces struck Iran for a seventh consecutive night as Tehran said it targeted U.S.-linked military sites in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain, extending the renewed exchange of fire across the region.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said the operation, completed late on July 17, hit surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities. Fighter aircraft, drones and warships took part.

Iran’s army said its response included attacks on military facilities in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain.

Jordan said its air defenses intercepted 10 Iranian missiles early on July 18 without casualties or damage. Bahrain activated air raid sirens, while Kuwait said its forces intercepted missiles and drones.

Several Kuwaiti soldiers were wounded in drone attacks on military facilities, according to the country’s armed forces.

Kuwait’s electricity ministry said another power generation and water desalination plant was struck on July 18, causing a fire and forcing several generating units offline. A similar facility was damaged the previous day.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards separately said two unidentified oil tankers exploded after hitting mines in the Strait of Hormuz, alleging they had been directed into the area by U.S. intelligence.

CENTCOM dismissed the account as false, and there was no independent confirmation. The Guards also said they had stopped four ships attempting to pass through the strait, where shipping traffic remained sharply reduced.

Iranian state news agency IRNA reported that U.S. strikes killed three people and wounded eight in the southern province of Hormozgan. Iran’s Health Ministry said at least 38 people had been killed and more than 400 wounded since the latest fighting began.

Major General Mohsen Rezaei, a senior military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said Tehran would launch “full-scale offensive operations” if U.S. attacks continued for another two or three days.

“Iran will no longer limit itself to retaliatory, like-for-like responses,” he said, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

The renewed attacks have further weakened a June interim agreement aimed at ending the war, which began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.