Iran launches retaliatory strikes as conflict escalates

Iran has launched strikes against American interests in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, promising “severe punishment” after a new wave of US attacks. The escalation follows the first known US strikes on Iranian targets in several weeks.

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severe punishment

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Camp Titin, a US Marine Corps base in Jordan, came under an “intense ballistic missile attack.” Jordan’s army said it intercepted 10 missiles fired from Iran. It reported no injuries or confirmed damage at the US training facility near the Gulf of Aqaba, close to the borders with Israel and Saudi Arabia. Three other missiles landed in remote areas, the army said.

Missile and drone attacks were also reported in Kuwait, where the army said it was responding to Iranian hostilities. In Bahrain, reporters heard warning sirens for airborne attacks early in the morning.

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intense ballistic missile attack

Iranian state television reported further explosions in southern Iran near the strategic Strait of Hormuz and on a Gulf island. It also said US forces struck an airport in Kerman province. The Iranian Red Crescent said shrapnel from a US missile hit a home during a wedding celebration in Kuhestak, killing four people, including a child, and injuring more than 50. Iran’s official IRNA news agency said four projectiles struck areas in Chabahar and Konarak counties, without reporting whether they caused damage.

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The US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC

US Central Command spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins said the US military had not received credible reports of civilian casualties from the latest strikes. “The US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC,” he said, referring to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. US Central Command said the attacks followed attempted Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and on US service members in the region. President Donald Trump described the US strikes as retaliation for an alleged attempt to place sea mines in the strait and for eight missiles fired at a US base in Jordan, all of which he said were intercepted.

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