US forces launch new strikes against Iran: CENTCOM
For the seventh consecutive night, the US military conducted strikes against Iran on Friday, the Pentagon confirmed.
The strikes mark the latest escalation in US-Iran hostilities, with both sides exchanging fire amid heightened regional tensions.
US Central Command announced on X that the operations, which commenced at 1900 GMT, were designed to “continue degrading Iranian military capabilities.”
The strikes came after CENTCOM said Friday that it had destroyed the Chabahar Shahid Kalantari Port surveillance tower in Iran on Thursday.
US Central Command stated on X that the facility was part of a maritime surveillance network along Iran’s Gulf of Oman coastline used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to track and target commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted a Thai-flagged vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, Iran’s Tasnim news agency said.
Tasnim said the ship ignored warnings and tried to pass through the strait without seeking permission from the IRGC.
Mohsen Rezaei, an advisor to Iran's supreme leader, was later quoted as saying that if the US seized any points in Iran, “we may enter an offensive war, instead of a defensive one.”
He added: “If US strikes continue for several more days, we will move into a phase of full-scale offensive operations.”
Meanwhile, the IRGC also said on Friday they had attacked a US special operations command center at Al-Tanf in Syria in retaliation for the killing of Iranian soldiers in Iranshahr, state media reported.
Reuters could not independently verify the claim, and there was no immediate comment from the Syrian government or the US military.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Friday that they had targeted US radar systems and military aircraft in Qatar to “punish the aggressor” following overnight US strikes on Iran.
One of Kuwait’s power generation and water desalination stations was hit in an Iranian attack, causing damage to facilities, a fire and the disruption of a large number of electricity generation units, Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said on Friday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Friday they had struck US military aircraft stationed in Jordan with ballistic missiles and drones in retaliation for overnight US strikes.
In a statement, they claimed to have destroyed “several US refueling aircraft and fighter jets” and caused “serious damage to many more.” They also called on Jordanians to target “the interests of the aggressive and anti-Islamic Americans” in their country.
* With Reuters and AFP
The IRGC's claim of attacking a US command center in Syria lacks independent verification, leaving the full scope of retaliation uncertain. As the US maintains its military campaign, Iran's warning of a potential shift to offensive operations signals a dangerous spiral that could draw in other regional actors.
Original source: Arab News
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