Iran says it hit US army targets, lays Khamenei to rest
Iranian armed forces have further strained the three-week ceasefire agreement by launching attacks on US military infrastructure in the Gulf countries, following US attacks on Iran’s southern coast and eastern provinces.
The attacks took place on the same day that Iran buried its slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a mausoleum in Mashhad; This was the culmination of a week of mass funerals and rallies.
Khamenei was killed in a US airstrike on February 28, the first day of the war.
Khamenei’s body was slowly carried by trucks through the crowded streets to the Imam Reza Shrine.
Black-clad mourners waved Iranian flags, photos of the late leader and red banners bearing revolutionary slogans.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy said US attacks and interference in rerouting ships through the Strait of Hormuz were disrupting the gradual reopening of the waterway.
The guards stated that the number of ships passing through the strait under Iranian supervision has reached approximately 50 percent of pre-war levels in the last two weeks, adding that permission is given only to ships using routes determined by Iran.
Another USA. The Guard said the intervention would lead to an “overwhelming response”.
The US military said on Wednesday that its latest strikes were aimed at keeping the Strait open after Iranian forces said they had hit three tankers in the area.
The attack came hours after US President Donald Trump said he believed the temporary ceasefire with Iran was “over”.
Although Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, analysts say it uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations.
Oil prices, which had risen amid concerns about the impact of new attacks on shipping and global supplies, retreated on Thursday as investors weighed whether the flare-up was tactical and temporary or signaled a complete collapse of the ceasefire.
According to reports in state media, Iranian officials stated that 14 people were killed and 78 people were injured in US attacks in five provinces on July 8 and 9.
Fars news agency said a US strike hit a railway bridge used for trade with Russia and China.
Multiple explosions were heard on Thursday morning in Iran’s Bushehr province and Bandar Abbas, a port city on Iran’s southern coast, Mehr news agency reported.
Bushehr is home to a Russian-made nuclear power plant, and a local official later told state media that a US projectile hit the perimeter of the facility.
The perimeter had already been hit several times before the ceasefire on 8 April.
The Iranian military said in a statement published by state media that it had carried out attacks on US Patriot systems in Kuwait, an early warning site in Qatar and a US military fuel depot in Bahrain.
Kuwait said its armed forces attacked a cruise missile, three ballistic missiles and 10 drones in its airspace, and one person was injured by falling shrapnel.
According to the state news agency, sirens were blaring in Jordan after the missiles fired from Iran were detected.
Eight people were captured with no injuries or damage reported.
The Revolutionary Guard later said Iran fired 10 ballistic missiles at Jordan’s Azraq military base used by US forces, as well as at a US military control center in the Middle East.
Qatar, which hosts the largest US base in the region and frequently mediates between the US and its enemies including Iran, condemned the attacks on commercial shipping but also called for a return to diplomacy.
The foreign ministers of Türkiye and Oman, in separate meetings with their Iranian counterparts Abbas Araqchi, also emphasized the need to avoid further escalation of military tensions.
In a meeting with the Pakistani army chief, who also mediated the conflict, Araqchi condemned what he called US “warmongering policies”.
