Al Jazeera

By Rached El-Moctar and Zaid Sabah

    US launches “powerful” attacks on Iran, with explosions heard in Qeshm, Kish, Bandar Abbas, Abadan and Bushehr.

    Iraq condemns US-Saudi strikes on the country, with the Popular Mobilisation Forces saying 20 of its fighters were killed, while 32 others were wounded.

    Iranian media says four Iranian advisers were also killed in the joint US-Saudi strikes in Iraq.

    Israeli forces kill two Palestinians and wound more than a dozen in attacks on Gaza, despite the US-brokered ceasefire.

Trump ‘trying to keep things proportionate, or to keep things open for diplomacy’

    David Des Roches, a former Pentagon official, says the latest US strikes on Iran were “more of the same”, hitting a similar set of targets as previous rounds of strikes this month.

    “I would have expected intensity or an expansion of targets,” he told Al Jazeera. “I would have also expected that he [Trump] would amp it up to include dual-use targets. So far, we haven’t seen any indication of that, so it sounds like not a very overwhelming attack.”

    De Roches said Trump was perhaps “trying to keep things proportionate, or to keep things open for diplomacy”.

    He added that the US does not have a strategy, only a “rough operational plan” based on air power.

    “They’ve chosen to pursue it with air power alone, which – unless you’re dealing with a very small country – takes a long time, and you always wind up expanding your target set, and you always have to do it for longer than you’d think,” he said.

    Trump’s “military focus is just on stopping the ability of Iran to threaten its neighbours. So there is a divergence with Israel, which sees Iran as an existential threat”, he added.

    New chairman Kevin Warsh said policymakers stand ready to adjust borrowing costs to safeguard growth and price stability.

US’s ongoing attacks on Iran ‘not a viable campaign’

    Ryan Bohl, a senior Middle East analyst with RANE Network, says the US has two likely escalation paths in the war on Iran.

    “The first is the repeat of what America was doing prior to last Friday, which is focusing on targets and infrastructure related to Iran’s blockade of Hormuz, or it could be an escalation towards the bridges and power plant strategy that President Trump has repeatedly threatened over and over again,” he said.

    The attacks this morning so far appear to be the first of the two, Bohl said.

    US officials “believe that repeatedly striking these targets will somehow erode Iran’s ability to conduct its blockade campaign against shipping in the Strait of Hormuz”, he said.

    “But there isn’t a real military reason to believe that this is a viable campaign. It looks more like the United States is trying to send signalling to the Iranians that they’ll climb the escalation ladder, rather than carrying out a serious campaign to degrade capabilities.”

    That’s because, Bohl said, Iran has adapted to the US’s air campaigns.

    “This war is now five months old, but [Iran has] also long carried out a decentralised, mosaic defence strategy that means an air campaign has to hit many, many targets – far more than I think the Americans are capable of, in an appreciable timeframe, to be effective.”

Three trapped under rubble in Qeshm as US strikes hit across southern Iran

By Resul Serdar Atas

Reporting from Tehran, Iran

    According to Iranian officials, a residential building on Qeshm Island was hit, with three people reported trapped under the rubble. Authorities also said the island has experienced power outages, and officials are working to restore electricity.

    Two people injured in the attack have been transferred to hospital, and debris removal is ongoing.

    The pattern of these latest strikes is similar to what happened in the 13-day military campaign carried out by the US, with attacks concentrated in Iran’s southern provinces, particularly those along the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

    Kish Island was also struck, though authorities say there have been no disruptions to passenger or car ferry schedules, or to port operations there.

    In Bandar Abbas, reports of explosions were later clarified by authorities, who said the sounds heard were not from strikes on the city itself, but were echoes from the attack on Qeshm Island.

    And Fars province is Iran’s only non-coastal province that has been struck, with the city of Kazerun targeted. Fars is located in central Iran.

    And then, in Khuzestan province, at least three locations were struck. The region is considered the heart of Iran’s oil industry.

Search efforts continue in Qeshm after 2 children rescued

    Search and rescue operations continue for people trapped under rubble following a US strike on Qeshm Island, with officials confirming that the two people pulled from the debris and taken to hospital earlier were children.

    The director general of crisis management for the Hormozgan governorate told the IRIB state broadcaster that “efforts are ongoing to rescue three other members of this family.”

    The building struck by US forces was reportedly home to a family of five.

US says has completed ‘heavy wave’ of strikes on Iran

    US Central Command (CENTCOM) says it has completed a “heavy wave of strikes against Iran” following yesterday’s attempted missile attacks on American forces in Jordan.

    It said in a statement that its assets struck dozens of Revolutionary Guard targets in Iran, including “military command centres, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defence sites, and maritime capabilities.”

    CENTCOM said the strikes aimed to “further diminish threats posed by Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping, and neighbouring Gulf nations”.

    CENTCOM added that more than 50,000 US service members currently deployed to the region “remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready”.

Oil prices ease despite escalating tensions

    Oil prices have retreated from earlier gains, with Brent crude futures dropping $1.29, or 1.42 percent, to $89.45 a barrel as of 01:10 GMT, Reuters reports, as oil tankers continue to leave the Middle East despite the expanding conflict between the US and Iran.

    US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude went down 56 cents, or 0.66 percent, to trade at $83.90.

    The retreat came after oil surged in the previous session, with Brent rising 7.91 percent and WTI settling up 6.56 percent in one of the war’s sharpest spikes, reversing a 5 percent drop on Tuesday following a brief pause in the five-month conflict.

US strikes hit Iran’s Ahvaz

    US forces have hit several locations in Ahvaz in southwestern Khuzestan province, with power outages reported in some parts of the city, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.

    At least seven locations in the city were hit, the IRIB state broadcaster added.

    It also said explosions were heard in the cities of Shadegan, Arvandkenar, and Abadan in Khuzestan province.

    We’ll bring you more as soon as we get it.

Two hospitalised following US strike on Qeshm

    We have been covering a US strike that left several people trapped under rubble on Qeshm Island.

    The semi-official Tasnim news agency now reports that two wounded people from the site have been transferred to a local hospital.

    It said search and debris-removal operations continue at the site.

‘There’s no indication yet what the targets are’

By Alan Fisher

Reporting from Washington, DC, US

    Trump made it clear that because of Iran’s attempted attack on the US base in Jordan on Tuesday, there would be a response, and a very heavy one.

    “Powerful” is the word US CENTCOM used when it announced the start of the attack just over two hours ago. There’s no indication yet what the targets are, but there are numerous reports of bombing in southern parts of Iran.

    Trump said the Iranians had asked him not to go ahead with this, but responded that “it is our turn”. As far as the United States is concerned, this is a direct response to Iran’s actions on Tuesday.

    This could clearly become a much longer campaign. Trump did pause the 13 days of bombing on Friday – a surprise move that came after discussions with advisers in the White House about what the next stage of the conflict might look like. At the time, he decided to give talks a chance, describing them as “very powerful” and “very friendly”. But after Tuesday night’s events, his patience appeared to run out. He said he wouldn’t wait forever, and ultimately gave the go-ahead for this attack.

    A number of experts have suggested there may be aircraft in the skies over Iran, though this is more likely a cruise missile attack targeting several sites in the south of the country. It remains unclear how long the operation could last, or whether this marks the beginning of an entirely new phase in the conflict between Iran and the United States.

Iran’s Qeshm restores power after US strike caused brief outage

    The semi-official Tasnim news agency reports that power has been fully restored across Qeshm following a temporary blackout caused by a missile strike on the electrical grid.

    According to the head of the local power company, repair crews successfully resolved the outage, though all personnel remain on high alert.

    Tasnim reported that US warplanes flew over Qeshm early this morning, firing multiple missiles at locations across the island.

Two people trapped under rubble after US strike on Qeshm

    We have more on the US attacks on Iran’s Qeshm Island.

    Iran’s IRIB state broadcaster reports that two people are trapped under rubble following the US strike on a residential building on Qeshm.

    Citing the deputy governor of Hormozgan province, IRIB said the building in the Chah-Tango neighbourhood of Qeshm city was “hit by enemy projectiles,” and that “search and rescue operations are under way to save the trapped individuals with all available resources”.

US strikes hit Iran’s Kazerun and Kish Island

    Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency says US forces have hit southwestern Fars province as well as the island of Kish in the Gulf.

    In Fars province, US forces targeted an area on the outskirts of the city of Kazerun, according to Tasnim.

    It said two loud explosions were heard on Kish Island following a missile strike, but cited authorities as saying that operations at the island’s airport and passenger ferry services remain unaffected.

Bessent says US ‘will not allow Iran to hold global commerce hostage’

    US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the Iranian regime is “desperate for cash” as its economy spirals and inflation reaches triple digits, following his office’s announcement of new sanctions on the country.

    “The United States will not allow Iran to hold global commerce hostage or use international shipping to finance the IRGC’s terrorism, aggression, and repression,” he wrote on X.

    Earlier, the Treasury Department said it had imposed sanctions on two firms it described as integral to an IRGC-backed extortion scheme that forces commercial vessels to purchase mandatory maritime “insurance” to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

US forces attack Iran’s Abadan; blasts heard in Bandar Abbas

    More from the IRIB on the ongoing US attacks.

    The state broadcaster cited a deputy security minister in Khuzestan province as saying that US forces targeted “some locations in Abadan”.

    IRIB also said two explosions were heard in the port city of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province, and that “similar sounds” have been heard on the islands of Abu Musa, Kish and Qeshm.

    It cited a senior Hormozgan province official as saying there have been no attacks on the city of Sirik.

Explosions heard in Bushehr

    Explosions have been heard in Bushehr province, where Iran’s only nuclear power plant is located, according to the IRIB state broadcaster.

Three explosions heard on Qeshm Island

    Three explosions have been heard on Qeshm Island, inside the city, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reports.

    Locals said a missile struck a residential area, though information regarding casualties remains unavailable, Tasnim reports.

Explosions heard in southern Iran

    Explosions have been heard in several locations in southern Iran following the launch of the US attacks, Press TV reports.

Iran says resistance will continue as long as US threats persist

By Tohid Asadi

Reporting from Tehran, Iran

    Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) says it has carried out operations against US military assets in Jordan, saying it targeted an airbase as well as a command centre.

    It says that as long as the American threats continue, the resistance from the Iranian side is going to continue as well. And it has asked US officials to stop their threatening language against Tehran.

    Also, the naval forces of the IRGC say they have targeted three oil tankers that were trying to approach the Strait of Hormuz on a route that was not approved by the Iranian side.

    In another important development, at least four IRGC members were killed in a joint military air strike by Saudis and Americans, again adding another layer of complexity to this already complicated situation.

    Meanwhile, we know that when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz, another point of contention, it seems that things are getting more and more complicated. And we know that there are at least four points of controversy.