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Strikes After Deal Collapse
A week after the United States and Iran signed a preliminary deal aimed at ending the war, an Iranian drone slammed into a cargo ship sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, setting off a chain of hostilities that would put the two countries on a path back toward all-out war less than a month after they agreed to stop fighting.
“While the United States is intensifying its strikes on Iran, the latter continues to bomb civilian facilities in Gulf and Arab states, and avoids attacking Israel which hosts American bases, forces, and aircraft, and also avoids targeting American ships off its shores, which analysts see as a form of pressure on Donald Trump without widening the scope of the war”
The NPR report says the June 25 attack came after Iran warned vessels not to use an alternative route through the Strait of Hormuz overseen by the U.S. military, and it adds that Iran had largely shut down the waterway after the surprise U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28 that started the war.
The NPR account describes how the U.S. launched strikes on Iran a day after the June 25 attack, hitting missile and drone locations and coastal radar sites, and how Iran then attacked a tanker using the alternative route with the U.S. responding with more strikes.
In the same NPR timeline, Iran lashed out at nearby Gulf states by attacking Kuwait and Bahrain, and the U.S. later revoked a waiver that had allowed Iran for the first time in years to sell its oil on the international market for U.S. dollars.
The BBC adds that the U.S. denied Iranian accusations it hit civilian infrastructure in the latest wave of air strikes since peace talks collapsed, with a White House spokesperson telling the BBC the U.S. had "carried out strikes exclusively on military targets, including military logistics infrastructure."
Civilian Targets Disputed
As the fighting widened, the BBC reported that Iranian state media and provincial authorities said bridges, a train station and an airport were hit, while BBC Verify confirmed an attack on a bridge in Hormozgan province.
The BBC says seven people were killed in Hormozgan province, and it also quotes UN human rights chief Volker Türk saying "deliberately attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime."
The USA Today account describes how Iran launched more attacks on America’s Gulf allies July 18 after a seventh night of U.S. strikes, and it says Kuwait International Airport operations were suspended because of repeated missile and drone threats.
USA Today also reports that Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said one of its oil facilities had been hit in "repeated Iranian attacks", causing significant damage and some injuries, while Kuwait's armed forces said they intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles and drones early on Saturday.
In a separate UN account, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said the UN Secretary-General was particularly concerned about attacks on civilian infrastructure, warning "Such attacks are unacceptable."
Regional Condemnations and Stakes
As attacks continued across the Gulf, the صدای آمریکا report said Arab countries and international organizations condemned the Islamic Republic's attacks on Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, and northern Iraq as a violation of sovereignty and a dangerous escalation that threatens regional security and stability.
“US denies Iranian claims it hit civilian infrastructure in latest strikes The US has denied Iranian accusations that it hit civilian infrastructure in the latest wave of air strikes since peace talks collapsed”
In that account, the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Jassem Badawi, Secretary-General of the GCC, said "Targeting deceitfully the infrastructure and civilian facilities in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan by the Iranian regime constitutes war crimes" and called for immediate international accountability.
The NPR report frames the next phase as a collapse of the agreement’s pillars, noting that red lines set by both sides have been crossed and that a return to full-scale war appears increasingly likely.
The BBC adds that the Strait of Hormuz has remained shut, with the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, saying "We should be worried, and I am worried, if the situation does not improve in the next few weeks," as the U.S. and Iran agreed to stop fighting in June but Trump declared the ceasefire over last week.
In the same BBC report, the U.S. denied that it hit civilian infrastructure, while the BBC says the U.S. had re-imposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports after the ceasefire ended, leaving the region’s shipping and energy flow at the center of the dispute.
