DUBAI — Iran stepped up its attacks on American assets in the Middle East on Tuesday with sirens sounding in Bahrain and Jordan announcing it had intercepted two waves of missiles and drones, as the US military said it launched another round of strikes to “further degrade” Tehran’s capabilities to target ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The US strikes on the 10th consecutive night of attacks come after US President Donald Trump vowed to punish Iran for the deaths of US soldiers.
In response, Iran said it struck two oil tankers in the waterway, as well as US military assets in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, state news agency IRNA reported.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran was now fighting a “full-scale war” with the US. Trump earlier said Iran had been hit “very hard” the previous night “in honor” of three US soldiers killed recently — two in Jordan and one in Iraq.
US Central Command said its latest strikes had hit Iranian “military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defence systems”.
Explosions were reported near the north-western city of Tabriz, where state media said one person was killed and several wounded, as well at the Gulf ports of Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini and the south-eastern ports of Chabahar and Konarak.
Centcom also insisted that commercial vessels were continuing to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran meanwhile said its forces struck two oil tankers as they attempted to transit through what it called the strait’s “unsafe and hazardous southern route” and rescue teams were picking up their crews, according to state media.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) said a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz had reported being struck by an unknown projectile, forcing its crew to abandon the vessel and board a lifeboat.
“UKMTO has received a report of an incident 13NM southeast of Limah, Oman. A tanker has reportedly been hit by a missile while transiting outbound on the southern route. Authorities are investigating,” the British organization said in a statement.
It was not clear whether the tanker reported by UKMTO was among those cited by Iran.
Six fuel tankers and cargo ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, according to preliminary data from maritime intelligence firm Kpler. Two of these vessels had previously been sanctioned by the US for links with Iran.
This is down from eight vessels crossing on July 19, the data shows. All but one of the crossings made on 20 July were via the northern route near Iran.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also claimed to have targeted a data center belonging to the US company Amazon in Bahrain, according to state media on Tuesday.
The IRGC “attacked and destroyed the central data infrastructure of the American company Amazon in Bahrain with several cruise missiles,” IRNA reported.
Jordan said on Tuesday it had intercepted five drones after saying it had shot down three missiles late on Monday.
Jordan’s military also reported intercepting five Iranian drones, followed by three missiles, in two waves of strikes that caused no casualties or damage.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed the first of the attacks, claiming in a statement that they had targeted a “complex housing US terrorist forces in the region of Rukban”.
The Iranian army had earlier said it targeted US assets in Kuwait and Bahrain, including air defense systems, radar installations and administrative buildings.
“With this radar sweep, the enemy should prepare for even more decisive and powerful waves of drone and missile attacks,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by IRNA.
Bahrain said drones launched by Iran had targeted its air navigation systems but traffic remained unaffected. Kuwait’s armed forces also said they had intercepted Iranian drones.
Later on Tuesday Kuwait said Iran had hit several power and water desalination plants the previous day.
At the same time, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said diplomatic exchanges with Washington via mediators were ongoing despite the collapse of a ceasefire.
Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni met with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and powerful army chief Asim Munir, according to Pakistan’s interior ministry.
Momeni also met with Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, the army chief of staff, during his visit to Islamabad that started earlier in the day, according to official Iranian media
He was also scheduled to meet with Pakistani Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi.
The visit by Momeni comes as Pakistan has intensified diplomatic efforts in recent days to resuscitate the MOU between the US and Iran.
On Monday night the Department of Defense confirmed the identities of two of the US soldiers – Pte Isabella Gonzales, 19, from Texas, and Lt Tyler James Feehan, 25, from Hawaii, who were killed in an Iranian strike on the Muwaffaq Salti base in Jordan over the weekend.
Centcom said earlier a third service member also went missing in action after the attack, and unidentified remains were later found in the area.
Source: Saudi Gazette