US Launches 6th Consecutive Night Of Strikes On Iran Amid Threats Of "Infrastructure For Infrastructure" War

US Launches 6th Consecutive Night Of Strikes On Iran Amid Threats Of "Infrastructure For Infrastructure" War

TYLER DURDEN

The Pentagon has announced that a sixth night of airstrikes on Iran have commenced: "At 2 p.m. ET today, U.S. forces began conducting a new wave of strikes against Iran for the sixth consecutive night to further degrade Iranian military capabilities," US Central Command stated on X.

Some latest developments from the region on Iran's retaliation:

• Iranian strikes targeted a number of vital facilities in Kuwait, the Reuters news agency reports, citing the country’s defence ministry. The strikes resulted in material damage, it added.
• The US Embassy in Baghdad has advised US citizens in Iraq to be on alert following a drone attack on Erbil on Wednesday.
• Dubai has warned of “necessary measures” against any media publishing false news after Reuters reported sounds of explosions in the city center of the UAE’s financial hub.

Thursday's strikes appear to be focused further north in Iran, also after earlier reports of having forcibly turned back another tanker accused of seeking to bypass the US naval blockade.

So far amid what is approaching one week of renewed US air raids, Iranian officials say the attacks have killed more than 35 people and wounded over 300 others.

Ironically, Karoline Leavitt was gone a couple months for maternity leave and she just returned this afternoon to give pretty much the same Iran press briefing as before she left...

CNN reports, citing state media: "Three explosions have been heard in western Bandar Abbas, a major port city on the southern coast of the country, Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) reported Thursday evening local time."

Since the prior day's handover of American detainee Dena Karari back to the US, which President Trump said he "appreciated" as a rare "gesture of goodwill" from Iran, Washington's bombs over the Islamic Republic appear to have ceased or slowed, for now at least.

But that doesn't mean Iran's retaliatory missiles and drones on America's Gulf allies have halted. On Thursday, Kuwait has announced its air defenses continue to be active, confronting inbound assaults by "hostile drones".

"The General Staff of the Army notes that any explosion sounds heard are the result of air defense systems intercepting the hostile attacks," the Kuwaiti military said in a statement, blasting "the sinful Iranian aggression." It added: "Everyone is requested to adhere to the security and safety instructions issued by the competent authorities."

After five consecutive days of US attack waves, the Iranian military has yet to show signs of backing off its assertions of 'control' over the Strait of Hormuz, and its military has newly warned that the energy transit waterway is an "unbreakable red line" which it will enforce.

On Wednesday President Trump warned that if Iran doesn't come back to the negotiating table - while relinquishing control of Hormuz - that by next week strikes will expand to include civic and energy infrastructure, such as bridges.

Tehran has in turn counter-threatened to destroy "all infrastructure throughout the region" if Trump acts on this threat to attack Iran's vital infrastructure cites.

New: “Infrastructure for Infrastructure” - Iran’s Khatam Al-Anbiya Joint HQ Colonel Ibrahim Zolfaghari:

To review of the events of the prior 24 hours:

• The US military says it launched another wave of strikes on Iran with Iranian media reporting explosions on Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas and Chabahar.
• The US military also says it “disabled” an oil tanker attempting to sail towards an Iranian port in the Strait of Hormuz by firing Hellfire missiles.
• Iran says it carried out retaliatory attacks targeting US assets in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

As for the situation of global shipping through the Strait, Kpler has recorded that merely 13 merchant ships transited the waterway on Wednesday, including eight that departed the Persian Gulf and five having entered.

Among those, only one - a bulk carrier entering the Gulf - used the US-approved route for safe passage, which hugs the Omani coast. Iran has been busy boasting that a huge array of companies and countries have sought to negotiate passage with Tehran on its terms of late.

This has settled into a waiting game amid dangerous escalatory tit-for-tat strikes, with each seeking to outlast in terms of absorbing pain.