U.S., Iran trade attacks; Trump threatens civilian infrastructure
by Darryl Coote · UPIJuly 15 (UPI) -- The United States and Iran traded attacks Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning as their war over the Strait of Hormuz continued to spiral, with President Donald Trump renewing threats to target civilian infrastructure.
The two nations have been trading nearly nightly strikes since last week, when Iran struck commercial shipping transiting the vital energy route.
While the broader war began in late February with the United States seeking to dismantle Iran's military and nuclear programs and encourage the overthrow of its government, the current chapter is centered on control of the Strait of Hormuz. Washington is fighting to restore freedom of navigation through the chokepoint, while Tehran is fighting to preserve its ability to restrict passage as leverage.
Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said in a statement Wednesday that more than 30 civilians were killed in southern Iran in the U.S. strikes.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps early Wednesday claimed to have hit U.S. military assets in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, as U.S. Central Command said late Tuesday that it had completed a seven-hour wave of strikes, hitting Iranian naval capabilities, coastal defense systems and missile and drone sites near the Strait of Hormuz and elsewhere along Iran's coast.
CENTCOM said the strikes were intended to "degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews" within the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM earlier said that in the last seven days, Iran attacked seven commercial ships, resulting in nearly a dozen civilian casualties. An Indian national was killed in a strike on a ship on Monday.
The IRGC said in separate statements carried by its official Sepah News that it had "destroyed" shelters housing F-15, F-16 and F-35 fighter jets at Al Azraq Air Base in Jordan; and "destroyed" a satellite communications center, missile and air defense radar, a Patriot air defense complex and logistical facilities at a U.S. base in Kuwait.
The Fars News Agency reported that at least one Iranian drone struck U.S. assets in Kuwait.
The extent of any of the damage was unknown.
The Kuwait Army said its air defenses were confronting drone attacks, and Jordan's Armed Forces said it had intercepted and shot down three missiles launched from Iranian territory. Bahrain's Ministry of Interior said sirens had been activated.
Trump earlier Tuesday told Fox News that the U.S. military was going to hit Iran "very hard tonight" and again on Wednesday and Thursday, with civilian targets to be struck next week, a potential violation of international humanitarian law.
"Next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges," he said. "We're gonna knock out all their power plants. We're going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate."
Trump has, since his first administration, tried to coerce Iran to the negotiating table on a new agreement aimed at preventing Iran from securing a nuclear weapon. Last month, a fragile cease-fire was agreed to for the purpose of implementing a memorandum that could lead to ending the war, but the Strait of Hormuz has been a sticking point.
On Tuesday, the U.S. military reimposed a blockade of Iranian ports that Trump removed after the MOU was reached.
CENTCOM said its round of strikes against Iran began at 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday, an hour before the naval blockade resumed operations.