Tahran
\nIran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday they had targeted US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait and that they had shot down a US MQ-9 drone attempting to interfere in the operation. Bahrain\u2019s army \u200blater said it had thwarted Iranian attacks.
\nThe US had earlier unleashed new military strikes and revoked a licence allowing Iran to sell oil in response to attacks on three tankers in the strait.
\nThe US Central Command said \u200bmore than 60 small boats used by the IRGC were among the targets hit in an operation it said was intended to impose a heavy cost on Iran for strikes on shipping in violation of the ceasefire.
\n\u201cThe unwarranted aggression by \u200cIranian forces is a clear and dangerous violation of the ceasefire and undermines freedom of navigation,\u201d CENTCOM said in a statement.
\nNATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters before the NATO summit that the new attacks by the US on Iran were \u201cabsolutely necessary\u201d.
\nEU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas later said on X: \u201cThe exchanges of fire between the US and Iran further complicate already fraught talks to end the war. Iran\u2019s attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait are unacceptable.\u201d
\nIran\u2019s top joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, condemned the US strikes as a \u201cblatant act of aggression,\u201d threatened a \u201ccrushing response,\u201d and warned that Tehran would not allow US interference in the management of the strait.
\nA top Iranian negotiator, parliament speaker \u200bMohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accused the US of breaching the \u200bceasefire agreement. He cited not only the latest US military strikes, but renewed oil sanctions, violations of Iranian \u201cadjustments\u201d in the Strait of Hormuz, and Israeli attacks against Lebanon.
\n\u201cThe era of bullying and extortion is over,\u201d Ghalibaf said in a post on X. \u201cWe don\u2019t fold.\u201d
\nIranian media earlier reported explosions in Iran\u2019s main oil hub of Kharg Island, on Qeshm Island and in the southern port \u200bcities of Sirik and Bandar Abbas.
\nIran\u2019s Press TV reported several blasts were heard in southern Kharg Island. CENTCOM made no mention of Kharg Island, from which \u200bIran exports 90% of its crude oil.
\nA US official told Reuters that strikes targeted Iranian air defence systems, coastal surveillance systems, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles and drone launch sites.
\nNo civilian deaths were reported in Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tahran Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday they had targeted US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait and that they had shot down a US MQ-9 drone attempting to interfere in the operation. Bahrain\u2019s army \u200blater said it had thwarted Iranian attacks. The US had earlier unleashed new military strikes and revoked a licence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n