The US attacks multiple targets in Iran, Tehran threatens full-scale retaliation.
The US has just launched large-scale airstrikes on Iran. This move plunges the Middle East into a new cycle of conflict, as Tehran warns it will target all of the region's infrastructure if retaliation occurs.
The battle for control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz has entered its sixth consecutive day. The US military confirmed it attacked dozens of Iranian military targets in retaliation for attacks on commercial shipping. Conversely, Iran accused US airstrikes of hitting numerous civilian structures such as an airport, a train station, and two major bridges, killing at least seven people.
In response to Washington's military moves, the Islamic Republic of Iran immediately acted on its threat with missile attacks targeting US allies in the Gulf region.
Officials in Qatar and Kuwait confirmed that their defense systems were fending off missile attacks. Several loud explosions were recorded in Qatar's capital, Doha.
Iranian state media also claimed to have targeted US aircraft and helicopters at an air base in Bahrain and Jordan.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry declared this a fitting response to the US airstrike near a pediatric cancer hospital in the Ahvaz region (southwest Iran), which forced an emergency evacuation. Residents of Ahvaz described the US bombing as "extremely intense," with more than 11 large explosions rocking the city.
The Strait of Hormuz front and the diplomatic stalemate.
The focal point of the current conflict remains the Strait of Hormuz—the world's most important oil shipping lane. Although briefly opened after an agreement in June, Tehran announced last week that it would reimpose a blockade on the waterway until the US ceases its hostilities.
Iranian military officials asserted that they "will never back down in the Strait of Hormuz," and demanded a complete withdrawal of US troops from the region. Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, stated that an agreement would only be meaningful if its terms were strictly enforced.
On the US side, Washington has reimposed a blockade of Iranian seaports and deployed forces to inspect and navigate cargo ships in the Gulf of Oman. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump is ready for diplomatic dialogue, but will hold Iran accountable and "not allow them to fire at ships in the strait without consequences."
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry is actively urging all parties to exercise restraint, end the violence, and return to technical negotiations based on the memorandum of understanding brokered last month.
The ongoing fighting between US and Iranian forces has now entered its sixth consecutive day. According to Iranian government figures, as of early this morning, new attacks by the US military have resulted in at least 41 deaths, nearly 300 injuries, and hundreds of structures destroyed or damaged.
