US says it struck dozens of IRGC targets in retaliation for attacks on US forces
Iran’s state media reported that three people were killed in US strikes on Qeshm Island
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[LONDON/CAIRO/WASHINGTON] The US military said it struck dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard targets in Iran, including military command centres and drone facilities, in a two-hour operation launched after Teheran fired ballistic missiles at US forces in the Middle East.
The operation began at 0000 GMT and ended at 0200 GMT on Thursday (Jul 30), US Central Command (Centcom) said.
“The strikes aimed to further diminish threats posed by Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping, and neighbouring Gulf countries,” Centcom said in a statement.
Iran’s state media reported that three people were killed in US strikes on Qeshm Island.
Jordan’s armed forces said on Thursday that they had thwarted an Iranian attempt to target the kingdom, intercepting five missiles.
The US carried out fresh strikes in Iran on Wednesday (Jul 29), the US military said, further intensifying a five-month-old war that was already expanding beyond its main fronts to embroil additional countries in the region.
“US forces began launching strikes against Iran at 8.00 pm ET today (0000 GMT),” US Central Command said in a statement.
“The strikes are a powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attacks on US forces based in the Middle East.”
The US strikes came after Iran confirmed on Wednesday that it had fired ballistic missiles at US troops in Jordan. Centcom said all of the missiles were intercepted. US bases in Jordan have lately become primary Iranian targets.
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Earlier on Wednesday, US and Saudi forces launched strikes against Iran-aligned groups in eastern Iraq, in retaliation for drone attacks on Saudi oil targets launched from Iraq. The joint attack marked the first time Riyadh has publicly joined strikes alongside Washington.
In Egypt, a drone hit a US-owned gas storage tanker at Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta, British maritime security firm Ambrey said in an initial assessment on Wednesday.
A statement from Egypt’s petroleum ministry confirmed a fire at the port but made no mention of a drone attack. It was not immediately clear who was responsible.
The latest strikes in Iraq and Egypt threatened to draw more Middle Eastern countries into the conflict, after the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen on Jul 20 declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia.
The war began in February, when the US and Israel launched a bombing campaign in Iran that Trump said would last only a few weeks. A temporary ceasefire agreement in June collapsed amid renewed fighting over the strait, which Iran says it now controls.
Trump said he would hit Iran hard for firing missiles at US forces, but that Washington was also still seeking a peace deal to end a conflict that has roiled global energy and finance markets with the choking of the Strait of Hormuz.
The waterway – which carried a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas before the war on Iran – lies between Oman and Iran, linking the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond.
The strait has become the main hurdle in peace talks and a flashpoint for repeated escalations in the conflict.
Iran said on Wednesday that it struck three tankers attempting to transit through the strait along an unauthorised route and that it controls the strait.
Oman has presented Iran with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the Strait of Hormuz, including collecting voluntary fees for using it, a Gulf source and a Western diplomat told Reuters on Tuesday. But Iran has rejected the Omani proposal.
Oil prices shot up on Wednesday in one of the sharpest spikes of the five-month war. Brent crude futures rose more than 8 per cent to push the benchmark well above US$90 a barrel, reversing much of a plunge earlier this week when Trump had unexpectedly halted US strikes.
‘Death to America’ shouted in Iraq
Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces, powerful Iran-backed paramilitary groups incorporated into the Iraqi security forces, said at least 20 members were killed and 32 wounded in US-Saudi strikes targeting several bases across Iraq.
Iraqi men shouted “Death to America!” as they carried the bodies of slain fighters in body bags.
Washington and Riyadh said they struck Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq in retaliation for drone attacks on Saudi oil targets launched from Iraq.
After the joint attacks, Saudi Arabia’s defence minister met with US Vice-President JD Vance in Washington on Wednesday to urge the Trump administration not to escalate the conflict further by attacking Yemen’s Houthis and carrying out additional strikes against the Iran-aligned militias in Iraq, two sources told Reuters.
One of the sources added that such escalation would open the door to “major unknown risks.” The White House and Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. REUTERS
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