KABUL (Pajhwok): The United States military says it carried out airstrikes on Iran for the 13th consecutive night, as President Donald Trump warned of more intense attacks amid growing concerns over further regional escalation.
The US military’s Middle East-based Central Command (CENTCOM) said early on Friday that it targeted Iranian military command centres, drone storage facilities, communication networks, coastal surveillance sites and maritime capabilities, according to Al Jazeera.
According to CENTCOM, the strikes were intended to hold Iran accountable and reduce threats posed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to commercial shipping.
The US military also said the Strait of Hormuz remains open for maritime transit despite recent attacks by the IRGC, adding that commercial vessels continue to navigate the strategic waterway with US military support.
The IRGC, however, maintained that it controls the Strait of Hormuz and said safe passage is guaranteed only through coordination with Iran.
According to media reports, explosions were heard on Qeshm Island, while blasts were also reported in Ahvaz, the capital of Iran’s Khuzestan province.
Iran’s Mehr news agency reported that US missile strikes also targeted the cities of Andimeshk and Omidiyeh in Khuzestan province.
Meanwhile, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said US attacks on a residential neighbourhood in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas injured two people.
Earlier, President Trump intensified his rhetoric against Tehran, telling the US news website Axios that he was considering launching the largest strikes on Iran so far after Tehran carried out another wave of retaliatory attacks on US allies in the Gulf, including a strike on a telecommunications tower in Kuwait.
Trump said he was “considering a massive attack” that would be “bigger than ever before.”
The latest threat has further raised tensions in a military confrontation that has continued for weeks, with the United States conducting strikes on Iran for 13 consecutive nights.
Iranian media have reported that previous US attacks also targeted bridges and tunnels.
Iran’s retaliatory attacks have spread across much of the Gulf region, fuelling fears of a deepening energy crisis.
The escalating conflict has also effectively undermined the interim peace agreement signed between the United States and Iran last month.
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