U.S. Central Command on Tuesday, July 7, announced that U.S. forces had begun a series of strikes against targets in Iran. These actions followed multiple Iranian attacks on multiple commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
CENTCOM stated that the strikes were carried out “to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.” The command described the operations as a response to continued Iranian actions against commercial vessels.
The immediate trigger involved Iranian strikes on at least three commercial vessels in recent days, including a Qatari LNG tanker identified as the Al Rekayyat, which sustained fire damage, and a Saudi tanker that was also hit.
Videos and reports circulating online indicated that the strikes are concentrated in southern Iran, primarily in Hormozgan Province near the Strait of Hormuz. Specific locations mentioned include areas around Qeshm Island and Sirik, both of which have been struck in previous flare-ups of violence.
A U.S. official told The Washington Post that the strikes on Iran are expected to continue for some time tonight, perhaps hours. The official noted that CENTCOM is expected to provide more details once the operation is complete.
Tuesday’s development follows a similar sequence of events in late June. On June 25, the Singapore-flagged container ship M/V Ever Lovely was struck by a one-way attack drone while exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast. U.S. officials attributed the attack to Iranian forces.
“U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted strikes against Iran, June 26, as a powerful response to yesterday’s attack on a commercial ship that was transiting the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites after Iran hit M/V Ever Lovely on June 25 with a one-way attack drone. The Singapore-flagged cargo ship was exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast at the time of Iran’s attack,” CENTCOM said at the time. “The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire.”
Iran has previously responded to U.S. strikes with its own military actions. Following the June 26 U.S. strikes, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that it had targeted U.S. military positions in the region.
Iran has not officially responded to Tuesday’s strikes as of this report.
