The United States and Iran have exchanged attacks for a second day, further straining their fragile ceasefire after US President Donald Trump said the truce was “over.”
The US military said late Wednesday that the strikes targeted Iran's “ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
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The United States struck approximately 90 military targets, including missile and drone storage as well as logistics sites along Iran's coast, said the Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US military operations in the Middle East.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called the US attacks “retaliation for yesterday's bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will be much worse!”
The latest attacks come a day after the United States said it had struck more than 80 targets in Iran in response to Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Thursday it carried out attacks on “key infrastructure and facilities” at bases used by the US military in Arifjan and Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, and Juffair and Sheikh Isa in Bahrain, in response to the latest US bombing.
The Iranian military later said its forces attacked a Patriot missile system in Kuwait, a satellite dish in Qatar and US military fuel depots in Bahrain.
Kuwait's Defense Ministry said it was intercepting missiles and drones, while Qatar issued an “elevated security threat” alert.
The resumption of fighting threatens to undermine a memorandum of understanding (MoU) both sides agreed last month to extend a ceasefire in April and gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.
The attacks come a day after Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was “over” and criticized the Iranian leadership. However, he left the door open to further talks and suggested any strike would end quickly.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling back to the United States after attending the NATO summit in Turkiye, Trump said the Iranian side had “called a moment ago” and that they wanted to “make a deal with all their might.”
US attacks throughout Iran
The US strikes hit a railway bridge in northeastern Iran, according to several official media, and the IRNA news agency reported attacks on a military base on the coast of Bushehr, which houses the country's only civilian nuclear power plant.
The Iranian Railway (IRIR) said that train service on the Tehran-Mashhad line had been temporarily suspended as a result.
He said technical teams were on site to repair the damaged section so that rail service could resume as soon as possible, adding that buses had been arranged to transport affected passengers.
Fighter jets flew over the Iranian island of Kish and explosions rocked the port cities of Bandar Abbas, Konarak and Chabahar, parts of which were left without electricity, IRNA reported.
At least three people were killed in an attack on the outskirts of Ahvaz, capital of the southwestern province of Khuzestan, IRNA reported, citing the region's deputy governor.
At least one firefighter was killed in an attack on an airport facility in Iranshahr, IRNA reported.
Iran's Health Ministry said at least 14 people were killed and 78 others injured in the past two days.
Calls to diplomacy
In mid-June, the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to extend their ceasefire. It also led to the lifting of the US naval blockade of Iran and the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The MoU followed mediation by Pakistan and Qatar, which served as a starting point for 60 days of talks on more difficult issues, including the future of Iran's nuclear program, management of the Strait of Hormuz and access to billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds.
Since attacks between the United States and Israel sparked the war in February, Tehran has effectively blockaded the strait, threatening to attack ships that deviate from its authorized route.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera's Resul Serdar Atas said the United States and Iran are “stuck in an equation, almost in a stalemate” over the Strait of Hormuz.
“For the Americans, they say that Iran will not have control over the Strait of Hormuz. For the Iranians, control of the strait is indispensable.”
He said Iran considers control of the strait to be the “last deterrent, and if it abandons it, it loses its negotiating position” with the United States.
The United States hopes that by attacking infrastructure that affects Iran's ability to control the strait, including maritime traffic control centers, it will be forced to “return to the MoU,” Scott Uehlinger, a former senior CIA official, told Al Jazeera.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called on “all parties to exercise maximum restraint,” as did Pakistan.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a phone call on Thursday that Iran and the United States should engage in diplomacy.
Sheikh Mohammed, who is also foreign minister, said Washington and Tehran should implement the MoU to end the war.
Iran said the two officials had spoken by phone and “underlined the importance of using diplomatic means to resolve regional issues.”
