The United States Army has carried out a new series of bombings against Iranian territory and claims to have hit "dozens of military targets" located on the coast of Iran, with a special concentration in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, it has announced the implementation of a blockade of Iranian ports starting at 10:00 PM this Tuesday (Spanish peninsular time).
"Today, at 3:00 PM (Eastern Time, 9:00 PM in peninsular Spain and the Balearic Islands), United States Central Command (CENTCOM) forces have begun to launch a new round of attacks against Iran in order to continue diminishing Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz," it reported on its social networks.
In the same statement, CENTCOM indicated that its forces were preparing "to resume the naval blockade against Iranian ports and coastal areas," a measure that, it specified, would come "into effect at 4:00 PM (Eastern Time, 10:00 PM Spanish peninsular time)."
Moments later, Central Command confirmed that the United States Armed Forces had relaunched, at the scheduled time, the "naval blockade against ships transiting to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas" and detailed that the Navy has deployed "more than 20 warships and hundreds of military aircraft operating throughout the Middle East" in the waters of the region.
About seven hours later, CENTCOM stated in a new note — in which it reiterates the reactivation of the "naval blockade against ships transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas" — that its units had concluded this latest round of attacks against Iran, "hitting dozens of military targets near the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian coastal areas."
According to this communication, using "precision munitions," several "US fighter jets, drones, and warships" attacked "Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, and coastal defense systems," all during a "seven-hour wave."
As on previous occasions, the United States Army Central Command reiterated that the purpose of the operation is to "further weaken Iran's ability to threaten commercial maritime transport and civilian crews," in line with the message of its highest authority, Admiral Brad Cooper.
The head of CENTCOM, in a statement released by the organization itself amid these bombings, has held Iran responsible for having "deliberately attacked" in the last seven days "civilians throughout the region by attacking seven merchant ships," which, he stated, "has caused nearly a dozen civilian crew members to have died, gone missing, or been injured."
On the Iranian side, authorities have admitted several impacts in their territory in testimonies collected by the Tasnim news agency. They have cited the city of Ahvaz, in the Juzestán governorate, north of the Persian Gulf, as well as Bandar Abbas — where another explosion was recorded shortly after — Sirik, and the islands of Qeshm and Hengam, in the Hormozgan province, located opposite the Strait of Hormuz.
However, the Hormozgan governorate has indicated that, to date, no casualties or damage to "residential and commercial" facilities have been detected, while the deputy security director of Juzestán, Valiollah Hayati, has not offered details on the toll of the attack against Ahvaz.
For their part, the governor of the city of Dehloran, in the Ilam province — on the border with Iraq — has reported to Tasnim a bombing against a mineral water bottling plant that was allegedly hit by three projectiles, causing "material damage to the factory's equipment," although "there were no casualties."