The US devastated Iranian missile depots, drones and air defenses in the latest barrage of airstrikes after promising ‘swift punishment’ for the deaths of two American service members.
‘During the eighth consecutive night of US strikes, CENTCOM forces successfully hit Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime capabilities, and missile and drone storage sites to continue degrading Iranian military capabilities,’ CENTCOM said in a statement.
The agency also warned that over 50,000 soldiers have been deployed across the Middle East, describing them as ‘highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready.’
IRNA, Iranian state media, reported that Qeshm Island was among the targets. Qeshm is located in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has used to block oil as a negotiating tactic. Explosions were also reported in Bandar Abbas, an Iranian city also near the Strait and near the city of Sirik.
Meanwhile IRGC-affiliated news station Tasnim reported that Iran had struck US assets in Kuwait in retaliation for the ongoing strikes.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it targeted two US bases: Camp Buehring and the Ali Al Salem Air Base.
The Guards Corps claimed it carried out ‘large-scale attacks with kamikaze drones’ against the bases, according to a statement cited by state media.
Renewed military action in the region has claimed the lives of additional American soldiers.
Iranian strikes hit the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on Friday. In addition to the two fatalities, one service member is missing in action, and four others were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals in the attack. The troops have since been discharged, CENTCOM said in a statement on Saturday.
Shortly before Friday’s attack on Jordan, Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, said that the US strikes on Iran would lead to ‘unforgettable lessons,’ accusing Trump of ‘seeking to escalate the conflict.’
Khamenei has also called the US’s actions in the region ‘criminal,’ referring to the country as the ‘Great Satan.’
‘The Great Satan – the criminal US – has now realized that the continuation of its trouble-free, domineering presence in the region is nothing but a naive fantasy,’ he wrote on his official X account on Saturday evening.
Hours after the US service members’ deaths were announced, Iranian state media said several IRGC missiles were fired at an unspecified vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.
The attacks come after the US launched a barrage of missiles early on Saturday targeting ‘surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities,’ CENTCOM said.
The strikes hit an electricity plant in Hormozgan and cut off the water supply to around 10,000 on Qeshm Island, while a bridge toward Iran’s main port in Bandar Abbas was disrupted due to bridge damage, according to IRNA.
The attacks have intensified the conflict’s focus on the Strait of Hormuz, an essential waterway bordering Iran that previously carried over a fifth of the world’s crude oil.
The struggle over the Strait has seen energy prices skyrocket worldwide, with the fresh round of strikes now threatening civilian infrastructure in Iran.
‘The US has violated its commitments under the deal that was signed about a month ago and now Iran is ‘no longer implementing them,’ Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, told state TV.
Amid the recent blitz from US forces against Iran, Tehran’s energy ministry ordered citizens to turn off their air conditioning during peak hours as the country’s power grid came under strain.
The energy ministry said that the power restrictions were necessary ‘to help ensure a stable electricity supply in the southern provinces, which are currently facing extreme heat and attacks on electricity supply facilities.’
Originally published with The Daily Mail on July 19, 2026
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