The conflict between the United States and Iran has escalated sharply after fresh US strikes on Iran and retaliatory attacks by Tehran on US military positions across the Middle East.
Iran said 18 people were killed and 108 others injured in the latest US strikes carried out overnight on Tuesday.
Iranian Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarghandi gave the casualty figures in a statement published on the website of the Iranian president’s office.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned what it described as the latest US “acts of aggression” and vowed to defend the country’s independence, national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Tehran said the US strikes violated Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and damaged several civilian sites and service infrastructure, causing casualties as well as damage to public and private property.
The United States, however, said its forces had successfully carried out a wave of strikes against Iranian military targets.
US Central Command said the attacks targeted Iran’s air-defence systems, radar facilities, maritime military assets and mine-laying capabilities. It said the strikes were carried out in response to recent attempts by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and US service members.
Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on US military facilities in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq’s Kurdistan region and the United Arab Emirates, according to the IRGC.
The latest exchange of attacks has raised fears that the conflict could spread further across the Middle East, particularly as tensions continue to mount around the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy and shipping route.
