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13th Night of Strikes
The U.S. military announced it was conducting a 13th night of strikes against Iran as clashes escalated over shipping routes, with U.S. Central Command saying the attacks were designed to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters.”
“The United States continued to hit Iran for a 12th consecutive night early on Thursday, and Iran retaliated, striking targets across the Gulf, particularly in Kuwait and Jordan”
The AP reports the U.S. was pushing to regain control over the Strait of Hormuz and restore the flow of international shipping, as the fighting widened beyond Iran’s borders.
In the same escalation, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, and the AP said international oil topped $100 a barrel.
Al Jazeera reported that the United States continued to hit Iran for a 12th consecutive night early on Thursday, while Iran retaliated by striking targets across the Gulf, particularly in Kuwait and Jordan.
Iran’s Retaliation Claims
Al Jazeera said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed an explosion set a tanker ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz after it attempted to navigate the southern route off the coast of Oman.
In Kuwait, the IRGC claimed it had “attacked and destroyed a large warehouse of military equipment, a Patriot missile defence system, and a hangar of American MQ9 drones” at Ali Al Salem airbase.
In Jordan, the IRGC claimed it had “destroyed a radar of the American THAAD missile defence system with lightning strikes,” and said a Patriot system and a C-RAM radar were also targeted and destroyed.
CNN Arabic reported that CENTCOM said the strikes were aimed at holding Iran accountable and limiting the IRGC’s threats to commercial ships, while U.S. President Donald Trump indicated he was not yet ready to negotiate a new cease-fire with Iran, saying, “They need more of the same approach.”
Regional Risk and Next Moves
Al Jazeera reported that the UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre said a ship was targeted 70 nautical miles (130km) off the Saudi coast, causing a fire on board, while the Houthis claimed a major operation against two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea called the Encelia and the Layla.
“Washington is studying the resumption of major combat operations in Iran, with larger strikes than those carried out during the 'Epic Rage' operation, at a time when Iranian media reported an American airstrike on an island in the Strait of Hormuz”
The BBC said Gulf Cooperation Council states and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan issued a strongly worded statement condemning “Iranian attacks on the region,” describing them as “clear aggression” and a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter and international law.
The BBC also reported that Washington was studying the resumption of major combat operations in Iran, with Axios reporting that Trump told the site in a private interview that Iran “have not felt enough pain yet,” and that he was “on the verge of making a decision.”
In parallel, the AP said the U.S. Central Command described the strikes as designed to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels as the U.S. sought to restore the flow of international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
