The United States, through the US Central Command (CENTCOM), announced on Tuesday, September 1, the successful conclusion of attacks against military targets of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran. The attacks targeted air defense installations, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities, and communication sites. This was the second wave of attacks since Sunday, when the US struck Larak island, killing two people, stating that Tehran was preparing rockets loaded with naval mines for the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran retaliated with a wave of attacks against American bases in the region. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard claimed attacks with ballistic missiles against Camp Taji, a Marine Corps base, and at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain with drones. The Jordanian army intercepted 10 of the 13 ballistic missiles fired from Iran that entered its airspace. Kuwait also reported that its air defenses were active intercepting hostile targets. The IRG announced it had also shot down an advanced American MQ-9 drone.
Iranian state television reported several explosions in the country's south, near Bandar Abbas and the islands of Qeshm and Lavan, along the Strait of Hormuz, where Tehran has threatened maritime traffic since the beginning of the war in February. Two tankers were hit by projectiles of unknown origin. Additionally, a US air strike hit a house where a wedding ceremony was taking place in Kuhestak, in southern Iran, killing two people.
This escalation occurs after a memorandum of understanding agreed on June 17 between Washington and Tehran, which included an immediate ceasefire, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and the lifting of the US naval blockade. The parties returned to confrontation and naval blockades, not pursuing negotiations for a definitive peace agreement, whose two-month deadline has already expired. Last week, the US announced the "Economic Pariah" operation, which aims to isolate Iran by targeting its commercial revenues.
