US bombs 140 targets across Iran as Tehran targets US bases across Mideast

After Iran declared Strait of Hormuz closed and crippled civilian vessel, US forces bomb Iranian military positions while Tehran targets American bases.

By World Israel News Staff

The United States launched a major new wave of strikes against Iran early Sunday after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked a Cyprus-flagged container ship in the Strait of Hormuz, the latest escalation in a rapidly expanding cycle of attacks on commercial vessels and US military facilities across the Middle East.

US Central Command said American forces struck roughly 140 targets in Iran, including missile and drone launch sites, ammunition depots, communications equipment and other military infrastructure.

The attack was the third large US strike operation against Iran within days.

The latest round followed what CENTCOM described as a “blatant” Iranian attack on the M/V GFS Galaxy as the commercial vessel traveled through the Strait of Hormuz.

The ship suffered a fire and “significant engine room damage,” according to the US military, and was left unable to continue its voyage. One civilian crew member was reported missing.

The ship’s surviving crew abandoned the burning vessel and entered a lifeboat east of Oman, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a brief warning following the attack.

“Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay,” he wrote on social media.

The IRGC acknowledged firing on the vessel but characterized the attack as a “warning shot.”

It claimed several ships had ignored instructions to change course and were traveling through what Tehran described as an unauthorized route.

Iran subsequently announced that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed “until further notice” and until US involvement in the area ended. It also warned that additional American bases in the region could be attacked if Washington retaliated.

The United States launched its operation approximately an hour later on the orders of President Donald Trump.

CENTCOM said the strikes were intended to “degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels” traveling through the strait.

Iranian media reported explosions around Bandar Abbas, Sirik and other locations along Iran’s southern coast. Tehran did not immediately provide a comprehensive account of casualties or damage from the strikes.

Iran responded by launching missiles and drones toward several US allies across the region.

The IRGC said it destroyed a command-and-control center and drone facilities at a military base in Jordan. The extent of any damage could not immediately be independently confirmed.

Air defenses in the United Arab Emirates also engaged Iranian missiles and drones, while warning sirens sounded in Bahrain, which hosts the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

Explosions were heard over Doha, and Qatar sent emergency messages instructing residents to remain indoors. Qatar’s military later said it had intercepted the incoming Iranian missile attack.

The latest exchange follows earlier Iranian attacks on facilities used by the United States in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

Iran’s military said during a previous round of fighting that it had targeted a US early-warning facility in Qatar, American Patriot air defense systems in Kuwait and a US Army fuel depot in Bahrain.

The IRGC also said it fired 10 ballistic missiles at Jordan’s Azraq military base, which is used by American forces. Jordan said eight Iranian missiles were intercepted and that no injuries or damage were reported.

On July 7, CENTCOM said US forces hit more than 80 Iranian targets after three commercial vessels were attacked in the strait. Those targets included Iranian air-defense systems, command networks, coastal radar installations, anti-ship missile capabilities and more than 60 IRGC small boats.

The United States carried out another operation the following day, striking approximately 90 additional targets, including coastal surveillance systems, missile and drone storage facilities, naval assets and military logistics infrastructure.

Iran then retaliated against US-linked facilities in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, further weakening a temporary ceasefire arrangement reached weeks earlier.

Trump subsequently declared that the ceasefire was “OVER,” although he said Washington remained prepared to continue negotiations.

Washington is demanding that Iran publicly guarantee safe, toll-free passage through all lanes of the strait. Tehran insists that ships must follow routes approved by Iranian authorities and says the waterway will reopen only under arrangements acceptable to the Islamic Republic.

The violence erupted only hours after Iranian and Omani officials discussed possible arrangements for reopening the strait.

Oman reportedly proposed restoring unrestricted commercial navigation through a southern shipping corridor located in Omani territorial waters. Ships using the northern corridor through Iranian waters would have been required to obtain Tehran’s approval but would not have paid a toll.

The GFS Galaxy was traveling through the southern route backed by Oman when it was attacked, according to US officials.