Illustrative image. (U.S. Central Command)
The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on July 15 that it had carried out another wave of strikes against Iran.
In a statement, the command said its forces launched precision munitions against coastal defense systems and cruise missile storage and launch sites on Greater Tunb Island during the 90-minute operation.
Located close to the Strait of Hormuz, Greater Tunb is one of several islands that play a key role in monitoring and controlling the strategic waterway. The United Arab Emirates, a top regional ally of the U.S., claims the island is wrongfully occupied by Iran.
The strikes were carried out to “further degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM noted.
Overnight, dozens of U.S. strikes hit southern and southeastern Iran. The Islamic Republic responded by attacking American military facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan.
Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported that CENTCOM launched 13 missiles at a residential area and accommodation facility at a barracks of the Iranian army’s ground forces in the city of Bampur, in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
Seven members of the 388th Brigade were killed and 13 others were injured in the attack, while several more were wounded and are receiving medical treatment, according to the broadcaster.
The Iranian army condemned the strike on the barracks in Bampur and vowed a “decisive response” to what it described as “U.S. aggression.”
A separate strike overnight hit a wheat storage silo and another site in southwestern Khuzestan province, Valiollah Hayati, Khuzestan’s deputy governor for security and law enforcement affairs, said. According to the provincial official, a wheat silo in Hoveyzeh County and another site in Dasht-e Azadegan County were struck.
CENTCOM did not address the deadly strike on the barracks in Bampur but denied targeting a civilian wheat storage facility in Hoveyzeh.
The current confrontation, which began more than a week ago, threatens the memorandum of understanding signed by the U.S. and Iran last week. There are no signs of imminent de-escalation, however. In fact, the U.S. President has warned that strikes will continue and that civilian infrastructure and energy facilities in the Islamic Republic will be targeted in the future.
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the mou is dead. iran needs to realize this.