Iran says it hits US military targets in Gulf, prepares to bury slain leader

DUBAI: Iranian armed forces launched attacks on US military infrastructure in neighbouring Gulf states on Thursday (Jul 9) following US strikes on Iran's southern coastal and eastern provinces, putting further strain on a three-week-old ceasefire agreement.

Iran was also preparing on Thursday to bury its slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the country's holiest shrine in Mashhad, in the northeast, the culmination of a week of mass funeral processions and rallies. Khamenei was killed in a US airstrike on the first day of the war on Feb 28.

Iran's air force is flying MiG-29 jets to "secure the skies over the funeral procession" in Mashhad, Fars news agency said.

Oil prices, which had spiked amid concerns over the impact of the renewed attacks on global supplies, fell back on Thursday as investors weighed whether the flare-up was tactical and temporary or might augur a complete collapse in the ceasefire.

The US military said on Wednesday its latest strikes on Iran were aimed at keeping the Strait of Hormuz open after it said Iranian forces had struck three tankers in the area. The assault came hours after US President Donald Trump said he believed the interim ceasefire with Iran to be "over".

Iranian officials said the US attacks had killed 14 people and injured 78 across five provinces on Jul 8 and 9, state media reported. Fars said one US strike had hit a rail bridge used for trade with Russia and China.

Several explosions were heard on Thursday morning in Iran's Bushehr province and in Bandar Abbas, a port city on the Strait of Hormuz on Iran's south coast, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

Bushehr is home to a Russian-built nuclear power plant and a local official later told state media that a US projectile had hit the perimeter area of the facility. The perimeter was already hit several times during the current conflict before an Apr 8 ceasefire.

US strikes also hit a military site and a fishing dock in Bushehr province, its deputy governor said, though no casualties were reported.

TARGETING US MILITARY IN QATAR, KUWAIT, BAHRAIN

Iran's army said in a statement released by state media that it had launched attacks at US Patriot systems with drones in Kuwait, an early warning site in Qatar (satellite antenna) and a fuel storage of the US army in Bahrain.

Kuwait said its armed forces had engaged with a cruise missile, three ballistic missiles and 10 drones in its airspace, and that one person had been injured from falling shrapnel.

Sirens also sounded in Jordan on Thursday after missiles launched from Iran were detected in Jordanian airspace, the state news agency reported, citing the government spokesperson. Eight missiles were intercepted, with no injuries or damage reported, the news agency said.

Qatar, which hosts the largest US military base in the region and has often mediated between Washington and its adversaries including Tehran, called for a return to diplomacy.

In a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani also condemned attacks against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

While Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, analysts say Tehran uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations.

The Strait of Hormuz handled about a fifth of global oil supplies before the war erupted on Feb 28 with US and Israeli strikes against Iran.

Tehran has since taken effective control of the strait, allowing it to force a stalemate in its confrontation with the world's most powerful military.

"The US has yet to learn that bullying and breaking its commitments no longer come without a cost. Let me be clear: If you strike, you will be struck back," Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad ​Baqer Qalibaf, wrote on X.

"The Strait of Hormuz will be reopened only under Iranian arrangements, not through US threats."

"RETRIBUTION"

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Wednesday that its forces had struck approximately 90 Iranian military targets, including air defence systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities, and military logistics infrastructure along Iran's coastline.

"The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway," CENTCOM said in a statement.

"This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday.

However, the US leader, who was attending a NATO summit in Turkey, also said he did not think the latest military strikes would escalate into a full-fledged conflict with Iran.

"Anything that happens is going to be over very quickly ... and will only make it safer, including for oil," he told reporters in Ankara.

Asked before the NATO summit on Wednesday whether the memorandum of understanding with Iran was over, Trump said: "It's a very interesting question. To me, I think it's ​over. I don't want to deal with them."

"If we make a deal with Iran, I'm not sure that will stick," Trump later said.