US conducts daytime airstrikes on Iranian targets as Tehran vows retaliation

U.S. Central Command announced that forces began a wave of daylight airstrikes against Iranian military installations at 6 a.m. ET on July 15, targeting coastal defence systems, missile and drone sites and cruise-missile storage on Greater Tunb Island and in the southern port city of Bushehr. The strikes were described as intended to “further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping in the strait of Hormuz.”

Iran’s army said seven personnel were killed and several wounded in an attack on a base in Bampur, and vowed a “decisive response.” Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said more than 30 people have been killed in southern Iran and the health ministry reported over 260 injuries from the recent U.S. attacks.

Regional security alerts followed, with sirens in Bahrain and reports from Kuwait and Jordan of intercepted drones and missiles launched from Iran. Iran’s state news agency IRNA said Tehran’s forces carried out a drone strike on a Jordanian base that hosts U.S. warplanes and that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed hits on U.S. facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait.

The United States also said it has redirected two commercial vessels attempting to breach a naval blockade it re-imposed on Iranian ports earlier in the day.

“The option of negotiation may not be the safest, but it is currently the only way to achieve the results and objectives we all desire,” Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said, noting that Washington is listening to Lebanon’s position in talks with Israel.

The latest U.S. actions mark a shift from previous night-only strikes, expanding the operational tempo as both sides continue to exchange fire in the broader Middle-East conflict.