US Strikes Iran as Tehran Targets Kuwait and Jordan in Escalating Conflict

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 203 EAT on Thursday 16 July 2026

The US military has continued its strikes against Iran, targeting locations further north in the country and, for the first time in the latest escalation, areas near the capital, Tehran.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said early Thursday that its forces had struck several Iranian military sites and assets as part of efforts to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten innocent mariners” in the Strait of Hormuz.

The command also said it had disabled an oil tanker in the strategic waterway, which has become a major flashpoint amid rising tensions between Washington and Tehran.

At least 35 people have been killed and more than 300 others wounded in the latest wave of attacks, which began last Wednesday after the US Central Command (CENTCOM) launched strikes on Iranian port cities near the Strait of Hormuz.

The United States says the strikes were carried out in response to Iran’s attacks on three commercial vessels in the strategic waterway.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), meanwhile, said it targeted US military assets in neighbouring Gulf countries as part of its response.

Where did the US strike?

CENTCOM said in a statement early Thursday that US air strikes targeted Iranian command centres, air defence systems, missile and drone capabilities, as well as coastal surveillance facilities.

The command said several locations were hit, including Bandar Abbas on Thursday.
An earlier wave of strikes late Wednesday targeted coastal defence installations and cruise missile sites on Greater Tunb Island during a 90-minute bombardment, according to CENTCOM.

The small but strategically important island is located near the Strait of Hormuz and is believed to host a naval facility, although details about its military operations remain limited. It has also been identified as a location from which Iran has previously disrupted shipping activity in the waterway.

Iranian state media reported attacks in several locations, including Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Sirik, Chabahar, Konarak, Rask, Khondab, Khorramabad and Semnan, amid the ongoing escalation with the United States.

A hospital in Ahvaz was reportedly forced to evacuate 211 patients after it was hit during the strikes, according to Iranian media reports.

Air defence systems were activated in Tehran and nearby areas, including Pakdasht and Parchin, on Thursday. Iran’s military also said it had shot down an MQ-9 drone over the city of Andimeshk.

In a separate statement on Thursday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it was enforcing a naval blockade that was reinstated on Tuesday by disabling what it described as a “non-compliant” oil tanker attempting to sail towards Iran’s Kharg Island.

CENTCOM said the tanker was disabled using Hellfire missiles.

How has Iran responded?
Iran’s military said it carried out retaliatory attacks against US military assets in Kuwait and Bahrain on Thursday.

Kuwait: Iran’s army said it targeted radar systems, Patriot air defence systems and fuel storage facilities used by US forces at the Ali Al Salem airbase. In an earlier statement, it also claimed to have struck a radar installation, a US military gathering point, communication systems and fuel depots at Jordan’s Al-Azraq airbase.

Bahrain: Iran said drones targeted US Super Hawk radar systems and Patriot defence installations at Sheikh Isa Air Base.

Jordan: Jordan’s military said it intercepted eight Iranian missiles on Thursday.

Iraq: Iraqi authorities reported that five drones targeted the northern city of Erbil. Two crashed near a US military base, while another was shot down near the US consulate. Iran’s military has not claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The latest exchanges mark a further escalation in the confrontation, raising concerns that the conflict could spread across the wider Gulf region.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Ghalibaf, said on Wednesday that Tehran was prepared for a broader military confrontation if the United States failed to honour the terms of the interim agreement.

Ghalibaf described the conflict as an “existential” battle for Iran, warning that the country was ready to defend its interests if necessary.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened to halt all energy exports from the Middle East in response to the US naval blockade, which was reinstated on Tuesday.

“The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one,” the IRGC said in a statement.

Speaking at the US Army War College in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, President Donald Trump repeated his assertion that Iran was seeking a peace agreement through back-channel negotiations, although he did not provide evidence or further details.

“They don’t like what we’re doing, and they do want to settle. We’ll find out whether or not we settle with them, or we just finish it off,” Trump said.

In a rare conciliatory gesture, Trump also thanked Iran in a post on his Truth Social platform for the release of Dena Karari, a US citizen whom Washington says had been wrongfully detained in Iran since 202

-Aljazeera

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