New wave of US strikes, Iran's response: situation in Middle East

US-Israeli strikes on IranNew wave of US strikes, Iran's response: situation in Middle East US President Donald Trump called the new wave of strikes on Iran retaliation for alleged attacks on vessels© US CENTRAL COMMAND/xMOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. US military forces have completed a new series of strikes on Iran, hitting more than 80 targets, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported. Naval and aerospace forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, elite units of the Iranian army) have struck US bases in Bahrain and Kuwait, the Iranian state television said. TASS has compiled the main information about the escalation. New US strikes - US military forces have again begun striking Iran with the aim of weakening Tehran's capabilities to control the Strait of Hormuz, the US Central Command stated. - US President Donald Trump, on Truth Social, called the new wave of strikes on Iran retaliation for alleged attacks on vessels. - Later, CENTCOM announced the completion of another series of strikes on Iran. - It was specified that approximately 90 targets were attacked. - Among them, the command listed air defense systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities, and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats in and near the strait [of Hormuz]. Iran's response - Naval and aerospace forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, elite units of the Iranian army) have struck US bases in Bahrain and Kuwait, the Iranian state television said. - The IRGC also warned that Tehran will expand its retaliatory strikes against other US bases in the Middle East in case Washington continues attacking Iran. - The Iranian army, in response to US attacks, has struck a US Patriot air defense system in Kuwait, the Islamic Republic's state television reported. - According to its information, Iran also struck an early warning radar complex in Qatar and fuel tanks at a US military base in Bahrain. Situation in Iran - Fragments of projectiles hit the building of the Imam Ali hospital in the Iranian port city of Chabahar after the US strike, the IRIB broadcaster reported. - According to IRIB, the building was damaged. No casualties were immediately reported. - Three people died and several others were wounded after the United States' attacks on the city of Ahvaz in the Iranian Khuzestan province, the Fars news agency reported. - According to the province's deputy governor, those injured received medical aid, measures were taken to evacuate people. - Passenger train movement between the Iranian capital and Mashhad, where the burial ceremony of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was to take place today, was suspended due to the overnight US strike, the Tasnim agency reported. - According to its information, repair crews were sent to the scene and began restoring the railway track. - It is noted that authorities have developed an alternative route for passenger movement, which involves bypassing the damaged section using road transport. - At least 14 people were killed and 78 others injured in US strikes on Iran on July 8-9, Iranian Health Ministry Spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said. - According to Kermanpour, 47 people remain hospitalized and are receiving medical assistance. Strait of Hormuz - Commercial vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has dropped to a minimum as the US has been striking targets in Iran for two consecutive days, Bloomberg reported, citing data from vessel tracking services. - According to their data, vessel movement is observed only in the northern part of the strait off the coast of Iran, where the so-called northern corridor, a route approved by Iranian authorities, passes. - In the southern part of the strait, in the so-called Omani corridor, no movement is observed, the agency writes. - Only two large vessels are moving through the strait, a supertanker under US sanctions and a container ship flying the Iranian flag. - The agency notes that some vessels may also be in the strait but with their transponders turned off. - On July 8, 14 commercial cargo vessels crossed the strait in both directions. - Prior to the latest escalation of the conflict between Iran and the US, an average of 34 vessels per day passed through this water artery. Situation in Bahrain and Kuwait - An air alert was declared in Bahrain, the kingdom's Interior Ministry reported on its social media X page. - Several explosions rocked Bahrain following an air raid warning, the AFP agency reported, providing no further details. - Later, the Bahrain Interior Ministry again reported the activation of air raid sirens in the country. - Bahrain's air defense forces intercepted and destroyed several aerial targets from Iran, the kingdom's main defense command reported. - Kuwaiti air defense systems are repelling a missile and drone attack, the emirate's General Staff said. Trump's statements - US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that the United States will retaliate each of its attacks with 20 strikes. - Trump said that Iranian officials have contacted Washington regarding a potential deal but he has doubts about its feasibility. Statements from the Iranian side - Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has warned that the Strait of Hormuz will be opened only after Tehran's conditions are met, not under threats from Washington. - The Memorandum of Understanding between Iran and the United States was not built on trust from the very beginning, but on a clear mechanism of "commitment in exchange for commitment," a representative of the Islamic Republic's embassy in Moscow told TASS. - He emphasized that the US is "effectively disavowing" the provisions of the fifth clause of the memorandum, which enshrines Iran's role in determining the safe order for the passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. - According to him, by its unilateral actions, as well as aggressive attacks on Iran, the US has effectively violated the structure of the agreement. 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