DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States and Iran have exchanged strikes aimed at infrastructure and military targets as their battle over the Strait of Hormuz intensifies. The region has endured days of back-and-forth attacks in a conflict increasingly focused on control of the strait. The U.S. Central Command said early Saturday it had hit “surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities,” and Iran retaliated, with reports of strikes from Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq while air sirens also sounded multiple times in Bahrain. Iranian officials say recent U.S. strikes have killed dozens of people and wounded hundreds.
The US and Iran have blown past red lines as they lurch back toward all-out war
The United States and Iran are crossing each other’s red lines, one after the other. The latest hostilities began with an Iranian drone attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on June 25, a week after they had signed an interim deal aimed at ending the war. Iran claims that agreement gave it the right to manage traffic through the strait, while the U.S. and others say it should be fully reopened. Iran’s attacks on shipping have since led to U.S. airstrikes, Iranian retaliation against Gulf states and the collapse of the agreement. A return to full-scale war appears increasingly likely.
