The US has again launched a massive attack on Iran with the aim of keeping the Strait of Hormuz safe and open. At midnight on Wednesday (July 8), the US Defense Forces’ Central Command (CENTCOM) was attacked in a wide area from Iran’s southern coast through the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman.
Mehr News, Iran’s semi-official news agency, said the US attack damaged three of the country’s most important seaports — Bandar Abbas, Konark and Chabahar. Among them, Bandar Abbas is Iran’s largest seaport. In addition, various military installations of the Iranian Navy and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in and around the Strait of Hormuz have also been targeted.
Chabahar Fort and its surrounding areas were left without power due to the bombs dropped by the US forces. The report of Meher News also mentioned that the work has started since dawn to normalize the electricity connection.
CENTCOM hit an airport in the southern Iranian city of Iranshah and a railway bridge in the northern Iranian city of Akkala, as well as seaports. A fire service worker at Iranshah airport has reportedly been killed by a bomb dropped by US forces.
It should be noted that the IRGC attacked three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz on July 5, in violation of the terms of the Islamabad Agreement. After that attack, Centcom bombarded 80 Iranian military installations and targets in southern Iran and the Strait of Hormuz area on Tuesday at midnight.
In response to the attack by the US forces, the IRGC soon launched counter-attacks on targets associated with the US military in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Amid these attacks and counterattacks, Trump announced on Wednesday in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, that the US ceasefire with Iran is over and that it is not possible to continue diplomatic negotiations with the country under the current circumstances. Centcom attacked Iran for the second time on Wednesday after President Trump’s statement.
In a message posted on social media X after the attack, Centcom said, “US Central Command forces have launched additional strikes against Iran to further reduce its ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. The United States considers it necessary to hold Iran accountable for the recent unjustified attacks targeting commercial vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz, an important international trade waterway.”
A US Defense Force official said the scale of Wednesday’s attack was higher than Tuesday’s.
After Wednesday’s attack, President Trump wrote on his own social media account, Truth Social, “This attack was carried out in retaliation for Iran’s attack on commercial shipping in Hormuz. Any further attack would be more serious.”
TimesBD/ rabbi
