KABUL (Pajhwok): As tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to escalate, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced a fresh wave of strikes on multiple targets in Iran early on Monday, while Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had retaliated by launching missile and drone attacks on US military bases across the region.
The United States also carried out strikes against targets in Iran on Sunday, prompting Iran to respond with missile and drone attacks on US military bases in the region.
In a post on X, CENTCOM said it launched a new round of attacks at 1:47am on Monday. About five hours later, it announced the operation had concluded.
The command said dozens of targets at multiple locations were struck with precision-guided munitions in an effort to reduce Iran’s capability to continue attacks on international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to CENTCOM, the strikes targeted Iranian air defence systems, coastal radar sites, missile capabilities, drones and small military vessels.
It added that the operation involved US fighter aircraft, naval vessels, one-way attack drones and, for the first time, one-way maritime drones.
“The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime passage for global trade, and Iran has no control over it,” the statement said.
CENTCOM also said US forces across the region remained on full alert.
Meanwhile, the IRGC said in a statement on Monday morning that it had launched retaliatory attacks on US military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, claiming it had destroyed targets in all three countries.
According to the statement, missile and drone strikes set ablaze several large missile depots and fuel storage facilities at Prince Hassan Air Base in Jordan.
The IRGC said the second phase of its retaliatory operation, launched in response to the US strikes on Sunday and Monday, targeted key US military helicopter maintenance facilities, a hangar housing a P-8 electronic warfare aircraft and a command-and-control centre for unmanned aerial vehicles in Bahrain.
In a separate statement, the IRGC claimed it had also targeted fuel depots and a Patriot air defence system at the US Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, as well as a strategic FPS radar system at Ahmad Al Jaber Air Base, saying the facilities had been “completely destroyed.”
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, quoting the Iranian military, also reported that a new wave of drone attacks had been launched against US military bases hours earlier in response to the latest US strikes on Iran.
kk/sa
