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The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) on Thursday (local time) said that its forces "successfully completed" another round of strikes against Iran targeting its military assets, marking the 13th consecutive night of operations, while injuring at least two people in the Bandar Abbas region of the Islamic Republic.
According to a statement from CENTCOM, the US forces completed the latest round of strikes at 9 pm ET on July 23, targeting Iranian military command centres, drone storage facilities, communication networks, coastal surveillance sites and maritime capabilities. CENTCOM said the strikes were aimed at further diminishing threats posed by Iran to civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. "CENTCOM targeted Iranian military command centers, drone storage facilities, communication networks, coastal surveillance sites, and maritime capabilities to further diminish the threat Iran poses to civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz," the statement read. CENTCOM further noted that the international waterway remains open for transit despite recent attacks attributed to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), with commercial shipping continuing under US military support. "The international waterway remains open for transit despite recent attacks from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Commercial vessels continue to freely navigate the strait with U.S. military support," it added. Earlier, CENTCOM, in a post on X, stated that the US forces had begun "another night of strikes against Iranian military targets" at 6:45 pm ET, describing it as the "13th consecutive night of strikes aimed to hold Iran accountable and diminish threats from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to commercial shipping." The US military also said that more than 50,000 American service members are currently operating across the Middle East. As it happened, Iranian state media, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), reported that multiple locations across the country came under attack during the latest wave of US strikes. According to IRIB, citing the Deputy Governor of Khuzestan, areas around the city of Ahvaz were targeted by "the US terrorist army" with missiles. The broadcaster also reported explosions in western Bandar Abbas, around Omidiyeh, on the southern coast of Qeshm, near Andimeshk, in Konarak, Jask, Firuzabad in Fars province, outside Taft in Yazd province, and south of Khorramabad. IRIB further reported, citing the Deputy Governor of Hormozgan, that two people were injured in the US attack on Allah Akbar Hill in Bandar Abbas. Meanwhile, the Director General of Crisis Management of Hormozgan Governorate said a power pole was broken, and an electricity wire was severed at the site of the attack. The broadcaster also cited the Deputy Governor of Central Province saying that a location outside the city of Khandab was struck by two enemy projectiles. This comes as tensions between Iran and the United States escalated after the collapse of the 14-point MoU, signed last month, aimed at ending the hostilities between the two sides and opening the pathway for further negotiations, particularly on Iran's nuclear programme and the Strait of Hormuz. Its collapse renewed the conflict in West Asia, with the US striking Iranian military and civilian assets, and the Islamic Republic also targeting American bases across the Gulf in retaliatory strikes. (ANI)
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