SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
Washington: The US military launched its first major strikes against Iran in more than a month, prompting the regime to fire missiles at American assets in Jordan, as the war dramatically reignited on its six-month anniversary.
US strikes began at 7.30pm Tehran time on Tuesday (2am Wednesday AEST), Central Command said, targeting Iranian air defence sites, radar systems, maritime facilities, mine laying capabilities and communications sites.
“The strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region,” Centcom said.
Iranian state-run media reported explosions near the port city of Bandar Abbas, and other locations along the country’s coastline. Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting alleged the US attacked a fishmeal factory in Qeshm “and several non-military targets” in Hormozgan province.
Iran also said US strikes killed or injured as many as 50 civilians at a wedding in Kuhestak, a coastal city on the strait. It was not immediately clear how many were killed, but reports indicated as many as five, including at least one child.
Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, counted it among a “catalogue of atrocities” he said had been perpetrated by the US, including the bombing of a girls’ school on the first day of the war, killing 175. The US has never officially acknowledged responsibility for that strike.
“More dangerous than the bomb itself is the normalisation of bombing; and more dangerous than silence is the conversion of silence into legitimacy,” Baghaei said on X. “Iran will respond to these savage crimes with firmness.”
Central Command spokesman Tim Hawkins, a US Navy captain, said the US military was aware of the reports, noting they were from Iranian state media. “The US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC,” he said.
Semi-official Iranian media outlets reported the regime had launched missiles and drones at US assets in retaliation. PressTV published a statement attributed to the country’s military command vowing to inflict “crushing and devastating blows upon the vile and evil American enemy”.
A separate statement from the IRGC that appeared on Iranian television claimed a successful attack on Camp Titin, a facility in Jordan used by US and Jordanian marines. Reuters reported no casualties had been recorded so far, citing two US officials. Separately, a US official told this masthead the IRGC’s claims were false.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s armed forces said 10 of 13 ballistic missiles launched from Iran towards Jordan were intercepted and destroyed, while the other three fell outside populated areas.
The last time the US military announced major strikes against Iran was on July 29, although it conducted “limited, precise actions” against Iranian rocket launchers near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump described the US strikes as “large and powerful” in a social media post. He said they were in retaliation for Iran’s failed attempt to add mines to the strait and its firing of eight missiles towards an American base in Jordan, which were intercepted.
“If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The renewed strikes followed Iranian attacks on two large tankers carrying oil out of the strait on Monday night after a period of relative calm.
Projectiles hit the Saudi Arabian-flagged crude carrier Sidr, followed minutes later by a Liberian-flagged vessel, Senegal Prosperity, which is owned by a South Korean company.
The tankers each loaded 2 million barrels of Saudi crude at the Juaymah terminal last week, Kpler data showed. Saudi Aramco resumed oil loadings and sales from inside the strait in August.
Monday marked six months since the US and Israel launched their first strikes against Iran, assassinating the supreme leader Ali Khamenei and destroying the country’s navy and other military assets.
However, despite a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran signed in June, there has been no permanent agreement to end the war and re-establish safe passage for global shipping through the strait.
Trump recently claimed the Iranians still wanted to “make a deal” but they were not going to make the kind of deal that was acceptable to him.
Shortly after the latest strikes began, the US embassy in Qatar issued a security alert urging Americans in the Middle East to exercise heightened vigilance and be prepared for possible airspace closures, flight cancellations and travel disruptions.
“The security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation,” the US embassy said.
The price of oil spiked, with Brent crude futures trading above $US95 ($132) a barrel on Tuesday afternoon (New York time). US share markets also took a hit.
With AP, Reuters
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X or email.
