US-Iran tensions escalate as fresh strikes intensify regional conflict

Iran launched renewed attacks on US Gulf allies on July 18 after the US Central Command (CENTCOM) concluded a new round of strikes on Iran overnight.

Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency said that explosions were reported in Bushehr province as well as Hormozgan province's Sirik and Qeshm counties, and the official IRNA news agency said five blasts were heard in Iran's central Yazd province.

Late on Friday, the US CENTCOM said in a post on social media platform X that US forces ended the seventh consecutive night of strikes against Iran, hitting surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities, Xinhua news agency reported.

"More than 50,000 American service members are operating across the Middle East and remain vigilant, lethal, and ready," said the statement.

According to Iran's state media, three people were killed and eight others injured in the latest US strikes.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Saturday that it targeted the US naval fuel support pier at Al Ahmadi Port in Kuwait, as well as the US combat aircraft site at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain.

Jordan's air defence systems downed Iranian missiles, Bahrain intercepted several Iranian aerial attacks, and Kuwait said a fire broke out at a power and water desalination plant after an Iranian attack, according to local media reports on Saturday.

The IRGC also said that countries hosting US forces should expect "corresponding responses" if their territory is used for attacks on Iran, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei wrote on X late on Friday that the Iranian people "are now more determined and united than ever" and are fully resolved to make their enemies "bitterly regret this criminal aggression."

Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, warned on Friday that if the United States continues the war against Iran for another two to three days, the country will enter an "offensive and destructive" phase.

He said in an interview with state-run IRIB TV that the policy of "both war and negotiation" has ended, adding that if US attacks continue, Iran's armed forces will no longer limit themselves to retaliatory strikes, and US bases and forces will no longer be safe within any political borders.

Rezaei said Iran has so far exercised restraint to prevent the war from expanding into a broader regional and international crisis, accusing the United States of miscalculating by turning the war into a regional one.

He warned that Iran could deploy additional military capabilities, including ground forces, and that the war's scope would expand.

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