America intensified attacks against Iran on Thursday. He targeted several Iranian targets and fired on a ship. America had alleged that the ship was trying to break the naval blockade imposed on Iran. Iran responded by firing missiles and drones at America’s allies in the region and warned that its attacks could increase further.
The temporary ceasefire agreed last month has broken and there have been continuous attacks between the US and Iran for several days for control of the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials say that more than 35 people have been killed and more than 300 injured in the American attacks.
Attacks around Iran’s capital Tehran
For the first time in this latest wave of violence, the attacks also reached the areas around Iran’s capital Tehran, which shows that America is now targeting more targets. When America and Israel started war against Iran on February 28, Tehran completely closed Hormuz for the movement of ships. With this move, oil prices increased rapidly and Iran got a big lead in negotiations.
Colonel Ibrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesman for the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, threatened that if the US followed President Donald Trump’s repeated warnings and attacked Iran’s bridges and power plants, then Iran could launch large-scale attacks on all infrastructure in the region.
‘Will not allow interference in the Strait of Hormuz’
He said that under no circumstances and in any way will we allow America – which is a foreign country outside the region – to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz. This is such a ‘red line’ of Iran that no one can cross. As the blockade was reimposed, both the US and Iran launched attacks.
Iranian state media said the US strikes on Thursday targeted areas around Tehran and Semnan province, where Iran’s ballistic missile production and space program runs. It also reported attacks on Hamadan, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Lorestan, Markazi and Sistan-Baluchistan provinces as well as Iran’s Qeshm Island near the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s defense and missile sites targeted
US Central Command said that Iran’s defense and missile sites were targeted in the attack on Greater Tunb Island. Greater Tunb Island is one of three small rocky islands that lie at the intersection of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. These islands – which Iran captured in 1971 from the territory that later became the United Arab Emirates – maintain considerable control over Hormuz.
The US military also said it destroyed a Curacao-flagged oil tanker as it was headed towards Iran’s main oil export terminal. A missile was fired at the ship after it ignored several warnings.
Attack on infantry brigade barracks
Another US strike on Wednesday targeted the barracks of Iran’s 388th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, which operates tanks and armored vehicles, in Sistan-Baluchestan province, Iranian state television reported. The report said seven people were killed in the attack, including both conscripts and professional soldiers.
Condemnation of overnight drone attack
On Thursday, Iran attacked Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait with missiles and drones. There is presence of American army in these countries. No information was immediately available about the damage or casualties caused by these attacks. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi condemned the overnight drone attack in Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region. According to officials, this drone was stopped. This attack happened when he was on a trip to America.
During his visit, he said that Iraq would work to disarm all non-state armed groups, including those backed by Iran. According to the report of government news agency INA, a drone targeted the tanker in the Persian Gulf near the coast of Basra in southern Iraq on Thursday afternoon. There is no news of any casualty in this.
Peace deal still possible: Trump
The latest round of fighting is focused on the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran is targeting ships on US-controlled routes through the vital waterway. Cargo shipments from Hormuz had fallen by almost a quarter at the start of the month, according to maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence, which preceded the recent increase in retaliatory attacks.
Lloyds said on Thursday that due to the risks, some oil shippers were turning off their location devices and passing through Hormuz, but many were staying put. An increasing share of the region’s energy is being shipped via pipelines, but this is not enough to compensate for the decline in shipping through the strait.
Threat to reopen Hormuz
The US has threatened to recapture Hormuz by force, but experts say that would require a very large naval fleet, and perhaps thousands of ground troops. On Thursday, the price of Brent crude oil, considered the international standard, remained above $ 85 per barrel. This price is more than 15 percent higher than before the war, but still well below the price of around $120 reached at the height of the conflict.
Naval blockade imposed again on Iranian ports
Rising prices pose a particular challenge to Trump and his Republican Party, who are hoping to retain control of Congress in the November elections. America again imposed naval blockade on Iranian ports on Wednesday. Trump said at the US Army War College in Pennsylvania on Wednesday that he does not like our actions, and he wants to compromise. We will see whether we compromise with them or just end it.
Effort to bring America-Tehran to the negotiating table
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that efforts are still on to bring America and Tehran to the negotiating table, but admitted that doing so is becoming increasingly difficult. Trump said on social media that Tehran has shown a goodwill gesture by releasing an American citizen wrongfully detained in Iran since 2024. He did not give further information.
Human rights lawyer Jared Genser issued a statement identifying the detained person as his client Dana Karari, an American-Iranian citizen who runs a non-profit and was accused of spying. Iran did not immediately confirm the release, and his case was not publicly known, as is sometimes the case with detention cases in the Islamic Republic.
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