US says ‘heavy wave of strikes’ against Iran completed<\/p>\n
The US military is saying is has finished its \u201cheavy wave of strikes\u201d against Iran.<\/p>\n
Central Command said in a statement posted on X<\/a> that it struck \u201cdozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran, including military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, and maritime capabilities\u201d.<\/p>\n It said the two hours of strikes were in response to Iran\u2019s attempted missile attacks on US forces in the region and \u201caimed to further diminish threats posed by Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping, and neighboring Gulf countries\u201d.<\/p>\n Centcom also recapped that IRGC forces had launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in \u201can attempted surprise attack\u201d on US forces on Tuesday, US time, adding: \u201cAll Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.20 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n The fresh US strikes after the days-long lull in its attacks on Iran<\/a> came after Donald Trump vowed to hit the country \u201cvery hard\u201d in response to its targeting of American forces in Jordan, raising the risk of a return to all-out war in the region.<\/p>\n Iranian state media said two people were injured in attacks on the island of Qeshm in the strait of Hormuz and explosions were also reported in the western province of Khuzestan.<\/p>\n The renewed hostilities sent oil prices spiking, with Brent crude \u2013 the international standard \u2013 jumping 7.3% past $88 a barrel.<\/p>\n There\u2019s more in our new full report here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.52 EDT<\/p>\n Donald Trump has been considering a US commander\u2019s plan for a punishing air campaign against Iran<\/a> that could take up to two weeks, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n It says the plan drawn up by Adm Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, involved 10 to 14 days of intensive airstrikes intended to cripple Iran\u2019s missile capability, despite warnings that the US is running low on air-defensive munitions.<\/p>\n Or Trump could opt for a more limited military strike in hopes diplomacy could be pursued, said the report<\/a>, published shortly before the US launched a fresh round of strikes<\/a> on Iran.<\/p>\n The WSJ said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe idea behind Cooper\u2019s high-end option is to go beyond the tit-for-tat airstrikes that have done little to deter Tehran from threatening ships in the Strait of Hormuz and lobbing missiles at American forces in the region by sharply escalating the war, according to people familiar with his thinking.<\/p>\n If the U.S. wants military action to be effective, Cooper has said, the U.S. must step up its air attacks, significantly blunting Iran\u2019s missile threat, to try to break the stalemate. This \u201cgo big\u201d approach, which is among a series of options he has developed, would reduce the need for the U.S. to use defensive munitions because Iran would have less capability to attack.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.14 EDT<\/p>\n US says ‘heavy wave of strikes’ against Iran completed<\/p>\n The US military is saying is has finished its \u201cheavy wave of strikes\u201d against Iran.<\/p>\n Central Command said in a statement posted on X<\/a> that it struck \u201cdozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran, including military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, and maritime capabilities\u201d.<\/p>\n It said the two hours of strikes were in response to Iran\u2019s attempted missile attacks on US forces in the region and \u201caimed to further diminish threats posed by Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping, and neighboring Gulf countries\u201d.<\/p>\n Centcom also recapped that IRGC forces had launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in \u201can attempted surprise attack\u201d on US forces on Tuesday, US time, adding: \u201cAll Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.20 EDT<\/p>\n US-Saudi strikes in Iraq push region into \u2018uncharted territory\u2019<\/p>\n Before this new round of American strikes against Iran<\/a>, Saudi Arabia joined the US in hitting an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq \u2013 a move that has pushed the Middle East region into \u201cuncharted territory\u201d, analysts are warning.<\/p>\n Riyadh\u2019s decision to publicly join the US<\/a> in striking sites associated with Iraq\u2019s Popular Mobilisation Forces \u2013 killing at least 20 fighters \u2013 has added another complicating dimension to a war being seen as increasingly unpredictable and in danger of widening.<\/p>\n While Saudi Arabia has reportedly been involved in a handful of secretive strikes on Iran as part of the war, Riyadh\u2019s overt involvement marks a new turning point in the conflict, reports Peter Beaumont<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mourners carry coffins draped in Iranian and Iraqi flags during a group funeral in Mosul, Iraq, for militia fighters killed in US-Saudi airstrikes. Photograph: Hadi Mizban\/AP<\/p>\n Wednesday\u2019s flare-up in fighting followed days in which Tehran and its proxies have targeted bases and facilities of the US and its allies, including in Saudi Arabia, despite the brief US pause in attack on Iran.<\/p>\n The sense of growing chaos in the Middle East was summed up by Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and north Africa<\/a> programme at the Chatham House thinktank, who said:<\/p>\n double quotation markEveryone is trying make sense of something that is increasingly senseless. One view is that the informal [US] pause in direct strikes on Iran saw a shift from Tehran to its proxies to maintain pressure [on Washington]. But there is no longer any plausible deniability because everyone knows how the relationships are intertwined.<\/p>\n The full report is here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.18 EDT<\/p>\n The US military has hit the south-western Iranian city of Abadan as well as Qeshm Island<\/a>, Iranian media is saying, citing regional authorities.<\/p>\n The US attacked \u201ca point near Qeshm\u201d at 4am local time (0030 GMT), the deputy governor of the southern Hormozgan province said, according to the Mehr news agency.<\/p>\n The deputy governor of Khuzestan province said US missiles attacked \u201cpoints around Abadan city\u201d, the Fars news agency said.<\/p>\n State TV said several loud explosions were also heard in Ahwaz, Khuzestan.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.54 EDT<\/p>\n A missile strike has hit a residential area of Qeshm island, Iran\u2019s Tasnim is now also saying.<\/p>\n The US military earlier said its new strikes against Iran began at 8pm Eastern Time (midnight Thursday GMT).<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.24 EDT<\/p>\n Blasts heard on Iran’s Qeshm island \u2013 report<\/p>\n Three explosions have been heard on Iran\u2019s Qeshm island, Iran\u2019s semi-official Tasnim news agency is saying.<\/p>\n The Gulf island near the strait of Hormuz is a storage location for Iranian attack craft, drones, sea mines and other materials used to disrupt shipping through the vital energy route.<\/p>\n A damaged fishing pier in Iran\u2019s port of Qeshm island \u2013 backed by the Hormuz strait \u2013 in April after reported US-Israeli airstrikes. Photograph: Asghar Besharati\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.25 EDT<\/p>\n Before Wednesday\u2019s flare-up of hostilities, mediators had expressed optimism about bringing the US and Iran<\/a> back to the negotiating table following the collapse of an interim agreement amid renewed fighting over the strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n A regional official quoted by the AP said mediators were \u201cstill trying with both sides\u201d to restore calm and get the ceasefire back on track. He gave no details on whether progress was being made.<\/p>\n Another official said regional countries would continue to push to de-escalate the situation, but that prospects for successful mediation were slim as both sides continued to attack each other and shown no inclination to stop.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in a very bad place right now,\u201d the unnamed official said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a020.50 EDT<\/p>\n Opening summary: US launches new strikes on Iran<\/p>\n Welcome to our live coverage of the continuing crisis in the Middle East.<\/p>\n