US Launches Strikes on Iran as Both Sides Escalate Middle East Conflict
Escalation of US-Iran Tensions and Global Impact
By Daphne Psaledakis and Parisa Hafezi
US Airstrikes and Immediate Aftermath
WASHINGTON/DUBAI, Sept 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. launched a barrage of airstrikes against Iran on Tuesday, prompting Iranian retaliation, in the most serious escalation in weeks in a conflict that has driven up global energy prices and weighed on President Donald Trump's popularity at home.
Attacks on Shipping and Oil Price Surge
The strikes followed a weekend exchange of fire — the first since July — and attacks on Monday on two tankers leaving the Strait of Hormuz, the global oil supply waterway that Iran has effectively closed to shipping. Global oil prices rose more than $4 a barrel on Tuesday, settling at a five-week high.
Iranian Retaliation and Warnings
Tehran struck back at U.S. assets in Jordan, Bahrain and Iraq and remained defiant, warning that it would prevent oil being exported from the Gulf, despite a threat by Trump to hit Iran "hard" and a warning from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that Washington was about to impose new sanctions.
Civilian Casualties and Local Impact
Five people were killed and 50 wounded at a wedding near Sirik, a coastal area on the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian Red Crescent reported. The Mehr news agency said a 4-year-old child was among those killed, while the IRNA news agency, citing a provincial official, put the number of wounded at 68.
There was no immediate U.S. reaction to the reports.
Statements from Iranian Officials
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement the U.S. attacks would "tighten the lock" on the Strait of Hormuz, which carried one of every five barrels of the world's oil before the war.
"If the enemy wants us not to export oil from the Persian Gulf, no one will be able to export oil," Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was quoted as saying by Iranian media.
Sanctions and Ongoing Standoff
Neither threats of strikes nor new economic sanctions appear to have materially changed the position of Tehran, which has been under heavy economic sanctions for half a century.
The U.S. strikes followed a month of relative calm in which the U.S. and Iran mostly held their fire while exchanging hostile statements.
Details of the Military Engagements
Targets and Locations of US Strikes
The U.S. military's Central Command said it had completed a wave of strikes against IRGC targets on Tuesday including air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities, and communications sites.
Iranian media reported multiple strikes, including a U.S. missile attack near the city of Ahvaz and at the civilian Jiroft airport in southeastern Iran, while explosions were heard in the southeastern port of Chabahar, the port city of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz, and in Asaluyeh, a critical gas hub on the Gulf coast.
Iran's state broadcaster also reported explosions on Iran's Qeshm Island, on the northern side of the strait.
Iran Fires Back
Iranian Missile and Drone Attacks
Trump warned Iran against responding to Tuesday's assault, threatening to strike again "at a much harder and higher level."
"But it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!" Trump said in a social media post.
Even so, the IRGC said it fired back with a heavy ballistic missile attack on a base in Jordan and "killed a large number of U.S. forces."
There were no casualties so far from the Iranian attack on facilities in Jordan, two U.S. officials told Reuters. This was based on initial information and could change as Iranian attacks continued, the officials said.
Regional Responses and Further Attacks
Iranian media also reported the country's military targeted a U.S. base in Bahrain with a large-scale drone attack, and the Kuwaiti army reported its air defenses were responding to a hostile drone attack. Since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, Iran has responded with missile and drone strikes on U.S. allies in the region.
Jordan's armed forces said its air defense systems dealt with 13 ballistic missiles that entered the kingdom's airspace, 10 of which were intercepted and three fell in remote areas. Bahrain said Iranian drones were intercepted and destroyed.
Attacks on US Bases in Iraq
The IRGC also said its ground forces carried out combined missile and drone attacks on U.S. bases in Erbil in northern Iraq, destroying a repair facility, warehouses for technical equipment and a system used to control a U.S. surveillance balloon. The IRGC also said fuel tanks were set ablaze and several U.S. personnel were killed.
Neither Iraq nor the U.S. had confirmed the attack.
Background and Diplomatic Efforts
Economic Standoff and Previous Strikes
The six-month-old conflict had shifted into an economic standoff before the weekend strikes, in which U.S. forces attacked Iran's Larak Island on Sunday and Iran responded by launching missiles at two U.S. air bases in Jordan.
Failed Ceasefire and Negotiation Attempts
In an interview with Fox News, Trump played down the prospects of another ceasefire. The U.S. and Iran reached a deal in June that quickly fell apart, largely over interpretations of Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz.
"I think an agreement with them isn't worth the paper it's written on. We gave them a lot of chances," Trump told Fox News.
(Reporting by Parisa Hafez in Dubai, Daphne Psaledakis, Idrees Ali and Jasper Ward in Washington, Bhargav Acharya in Toronto, and Yasmine Ghania, Ahmed Tolba and Muhammad Al Gebaly in Cairo; Writing by Timothy Heritage, Kevin Liffey, Nathan Layne and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Scott Malone, Sanjeev Miglani, Don Durfee and Stephen Coates)
