Iran fired missiles at American allies in the Gulf this week after a US air strike hit a wedding party in southern Iran. The exchange marks the heaviest fighting between Washington and Tehran in months and has raised fears of a wider regional conflict.
The United States and Iran traded strikes for the first time in weeks. Over the weekend, American forces attacked Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Washington said Iran planned to use the launchers to plant mines in the waterway, which carries a large share of the world's oil trade. Iran answered by firing missiles at American bases in Jordan, and officials said those missiles were intercepted.
US strikes hit military targets
On Tuesday, US Central Command said American forces struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets, including air defense sites, radar systems and maritime assets. The strikes began around noon Eastern time. The Pentagon accused the IRGC of recent attempted attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and on American service members in the region. Iranian state media reported explosions on Qeshm Island and near the port cities of Konarak and Bandar Abbas, and Iran's deputy governor for security said four projectiles had hit the counties of Chabahar and Konarak.
A wedding party in the crossfire
One of the strikes hit a home in Kuhestak, a small coastal town in the Sirik district that overlooks the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials said families were celebrating a wedding inside the house. The Iranian Red Crescent said four people, including a child, were killed and more than 50 were wounded. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on social media that the home 'was brutally attacked tonight while families were celebrating a wedding,' with more than 50 men, women and children killed or wounded. Iran says it has now targeted at least seven bases used by American forces across the Middle East in response.
Fears of a wider conflict
The fighting comes six months into the Iran war, and neither side shows signs of backing down. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump said all mines had been cleared from the Strait of Hormuz, but the waterway has again become a flashpoint because a disruption to shipping there would shake global energy markets. Washington says its strikes are meant to protect commercial shipping and American troops. Tehran says the United States is hitting civilians and has promised further retaliation.