Last night, U.S. Central Command announced that US forces had “successfully completed the 13th straight night of strikes against Iran.” Using a variation of the same language its been using for two weeks, it said that “CENTCOM targeted Iranian military command centers, drone storage facilities, communication networks, coastal surveillance sites, and maritime capabilities to further diminish the threat Iran poses to civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
The statement does not indicate why the US bombed the Shalamcheh border crossing station between Iraq and Iran on Wednesday night. Shalamcheh is the main crossing that Iranians use to enter Iraq on their way to the annual Arbaeen pilgrimage in Karbala and Najaf, a very important pilgrimage in Shia Islam, and is considered a national holiday in Iran. In retaliation, the U.S. strike on Shalamcheh “must be compensated with an equivalent level of strikes against critical energy infrastructure and major companies,” said an unnamed Iranian official.
Citing Iranian media, AP reported that U.S. strikes hit a naval base for the Revolutionary Guard in the north of Iran. Blasts overnight were also reported on Iran’s Qeshm Island, home to stores of naval assets including drone boats that Iran can use to attack vessels on the Strait of Hormuz. Similar explosions were reported in Isfahan province, where there is a major Iranian air base as well as one of Iran’s nuclear sites. More strikes reportedly hit Iran’s southwest Khuzestan province and southern Fars province.
Four people were killed and five wounded in a U.S. missile attack on the outskirts of Ahvaz on the Karun River, AP reported. An attack in Lorestan province in Western Iran injured two, according to state media, while two more were injured by explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas, a critical hub for moving military supplies as well as trade cargo.
