U.S. forces hit more than 100 targets in Iran Saturday evening, the latest in several days of renewed fighting between the two countries.
Saturday’s strikes involved munitions fired from fighter jets, ships in the nearby waters and U.S. drones, according to U.S. Central Command.
“Targets included Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, ammunition storage facilities, communication networks, and coastal surveillance locations,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
Tehran in turn fired drones and missiles in retaliation, targeting American bases in Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Iran said it targeted naval support infrastructure, although it is unclear if any munitions hit targets. It’s also unclear if anyone has been killed in this weekend’s fighting.
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Saturday’s strikes are the largest since the U.S. and Iran restarted fighting this week. That restarted after the United States targeted Iranian missile sites in response to attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway that has been at the center of negotiations over recent weeks. Tensions escalated on Monday when commercial ships crossing through the Strait of Hormuz were attacked.
The fighting also comes roughly halfway through the 60-day ceasefire for negotiations agreed upon in the memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran. On Wednesday at the NATO summit in Turkey, President Donald Trump said that he considered the ceasefire “over.” Since then the two countries have fired on each other twice more. The United States military maintains a large force around the strait, with two aircraft carriers and multiple destroyers, as well as several attached fighter squadrons. The Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, carrying more than 2,000 Marines, arrived in the CENTCOM area of responsibility last week.
According to Central Command, American forces hit 80 targets on July 7 and another 90 on July 8. In each round of strikes, they targeted boats and other maritime assets as well as air defense and missile launch sites. U.S. forces have hit more than 300 targets over the last six days of fighting.
On Sunday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that the strait was now temporarily closed in response to the attacks. CENTCOM said in a post to social media Sunday that “U.S. forces are positioned and prepared” to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for navigation.
