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Wedding Strike Sparks Retaliation
The U.S. military hit targets in Iran on Tuesday as hostilities flared again after an intermittent war that has lasted more than six months, and Tehran fired missiles and drones in response.
“One U.S. strike hit a home hosting a wedding, killing two people and wounding dozens”
One U.S. strike hit a home hosting a wedding in Kuhestak in southern Iran, killing two people and wounding at least 50 others, Ahmad Nafisi, Hormozgan Province’s deputy governor, told Iranian state television in a phone call.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said a U.S. strike in Kuhestak Tuesday evening hit a wedding ceremony and described it as a war crime, while the Iranian Red Crescent said at least four people were killed and 67 others were injured in the alleged attack.
U.S. Central Command said the latest strikes were in response to Tehran trying to attack commercial ships and American forces in the Middle East, and Iranian state media reported that the U.S. bombed civilian sites along Iran’s southern coast and hit a civilian airport.
Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff and its joint military command said the armed forces would deliver what they described as “crushing and devastating blows” against the United States.
Regional Air Defenses Respond
After the U.S. strikes, Jordan and Kuwait said they intercepted new Iranian attacks on American bases in the region, with Jordan saying it destroyed 10 ballistic missiles launched from Iran and three other missiles fell in remote areas, according to the official Jordanian News Agency (PETRA).
Kuwait’s army said its air defenses repelled “hostile drones” coming from Iran, adding that the explosions heard across the Gulf nation were the result of interception operations.
On Tuesday evening, U.S. Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said, “We’re aware of the reports, which originated from Iranian state media. The U.S. military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a new statement warning the U.S. against future action and warning other countries in the region against helping the U.S., saying, “This offensive operation will continue as a lesson against the Americans until they regret their crime.”
The U.S. and Iran also exchanged attacks in the wider region, with Iranian media reporting attacks on an American base in Bahrain and Kuwait’s military responding to a hostile drone incursion.
Oil Flows and Negotiations at Risk
Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced 17 million barrels of oil transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, saying it marked the highest level of crude to pass through the waterway since the conflict with Iran began.
“Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced 17 million barrels of oil transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday”
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard warned that the attacks have tightened Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil normally flows, and Iranian state media reported explosions across several southern Iranian coastal areas including Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island.
Al Jazeera reported that oil prices jumped as U.S. and Iranian attacks stoked fears of escalation, with Brent crude rising 2 percent on Tuesday to top $92 a barrel and Brent scheduled for November delivery at $92.31 as of 08:45 GMT.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, that Iran is ready to return to the terms of the June memorandum of understanding if Washington also does the same, adding, “I am stating clearly that if the US returns to its commitments under the memorandum of understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately reciprocate.”
The same MoU framework is described as having Iran clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines and allow ships to pass during the period, while the U.S. agreed to end its naval blockade and lift sanctions, but the ceasefire collapsed within weeks and the MoU lapsed last month.