Iran and the United States exchanged heavy fire on Thursday in a week-long escalation that largely scrapped last month's deal, with Tehran rejecting US President Donald Trump's demand for the release of an American citizen.
For the first time since a ceasefire deal was suspended last month, the United States launched two major waves of airstrikes in one day on Wednesday, mostly targeting areas near Iran's southern coast, and continued firing on Thursday.
In a statement, the US Central Command said that the US military began “a new wave of strikes against Iran for the sixth consecutive night to improve the strength of the Iranian military” at 2:00 ET or 9:30 pm in Tehran.
Tehran has faced missiles and drones targeting US military bases in neighboring provinces, including an upheaval at a newly expanded airstrip in Jordan.
After Tehran resumed its blockade of the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, Washington also blocked Iranian ports from Wednesday.
The US military said it shot down a tanker near the Iranian island of Kharg Island, with Hellfire missiles blowing up its smokestack.
Qeshm Island, sites near Bandar Abbas were hit
On Thursday evening, US projectiles attacked Qeshm Island near Bandar Abbas – which is home to Iran's main port and important naval bases and Revolutionary Guards – both in the Strait of Hormuz. Several areas in Bandar Abbas were hit by projectiles at 9:35 pm local time, Mehr media reported, saying the attack was caused by “the American enemy.”
Iran has signaled that it may encourage its Houthi allies in Yemen to block another key route: Bab al-Mandeb at the mouth of the Red Sea. Sources told Reuters that Iran has already told the Houthis to shut it down if Washington makes threats to attack Iran's infrastructure.
A week of tense exchanges tested the two sides' most widely seen deterrents during the four months of fighting before last month's deal. Even as the attacks escalate, Trump on Wednesday welcomed what he described as the release of a US citizen imprisoned in Iran, identified by human rights lawyer Dena Karari, calling it an act of goodwill by Tehran.
On Thursday, however, Iranian law enforcement officials challenged that account, saying no American prisoner had been released or exchanged in Iranian prisons, according to state media.
The escalation has also halted traffic through Hormuz, the world's most important shipping route for oil and gas, pushing up global energy prices.
Iran launched a renewed war last week with missile boats sailing through the tunnel, sparking a deadly fire on a Qatari tanker loaded with liquefied natural gas.
Trump won't go along with 'acts of terrorism': Leavitt
Caroline Leavitt, White House press secretary, told a briefing Thursday that Trump will not “sit back and allow these acts of terrorism to happen in this crisis without making sure that Iran pays the consequences.”
In June, CBC's senior international reporter Margaret Evans and videographer Lyza Sale were granted rare access to report inside Iran. Where they could go and what they could report on was tightly controlled, but Iranian authorities had no editorial influence on content and were not given access to CBC News material before it was published.
But he added that the president is “always open to diplomacy at the same time.”
Iranian sources told Reuters that Iran's goal was to establish its authority over the sea, although otherwise Tehran is not interested in a broad escalation that would end the first June agreement, which it still considers to have given it much of what it wanted.
In Iran, renewed bombings have left residents worried, following massive week-long commemorations of the slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by authorities as a show of victory and national unity.
“Living with this fear that a war may start is also very worrying. You cannot live like this…. Personally, I want the negotiations to succeed,” Mahlegha, 46, a civil servant, told Reuters in a message from Tehran.
Iran wants funds to pass in the future
Iran wants all ships using the Strait of Hormuz to pass through a route close to its coast, and has made no secret of its intention to impose tolls for passage at the end of the 60-day talks set out in last month's memorandum.
Washington had encouraged the ships to use an alternative route to the south, along the coast of Oman.
Threats to the Strait of Hormuz led the US to renew strikes and ease its embargo on Iranian shipping on Tuesday, as oil prices rose to a four-week high as a result.
The US military said its airstrikes hit Iranian forces along the coast to cripple their ability to control the river. Iranian military spokesman Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said on Thursday that this would not work because Iran could attack anywhere in its territory.
Three US officials told Reuters that the US strikes could act as “shaping operations,” giving Trump other options by targeting Iranian military capabilities that the US would like to destroy before taking major action. “This helps to plan the field, if needed,” said one of the officials.
The ground forces can be controlled by Trump
Trump has not ruled out the possibility of using ground forces, including seizing Kharg Island, the site of Iran's main oil export port. He has made repeated threats to strike plants and bridges in Iran next week unless Tehran resumes talks.
Alex Vatanka, senior fellow and director of the Iran program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said the warring parties are “back to square one,” reaching the limits of what they can achieve in a limited war situation and will ultimately face the choice of retreating or escalating.
Meanwhile, Iran's retaliatory strikes have focused on US bases in neighboring countries. Iran said on Thursday it had fired at a Jordanian air base that Washington had upgraded in recent years to become a regional headquarters.
It said a Jordanian base was used to attack a children's cancer hospital in the city of Ahvaz on Wednesday night. Staff there said the hospital was evacuated after the missile hit 200 meters from the main building.
