The US has carried out another 'heavy wave of strikes' on Iran in response to attacks on its bases in the Middle East. US Central Command (Centcom) said the 'powerful' two-hour bombing raid hit 'dozens' of military command centres, missile and drone facilities, and surveillance and defence sites.
Trump vows retaliation
The new strikes came hours after President Donald Trump vowed to strike back 'very hard' after it targeted a US base in Jordan. Speaking yesterday, he vowed to 'beat the f***ing s**t' out of Iran for firing on American troops days after he halted air strikes.
Casualties and regional impact
Iran's official IRNA news agency said three people were killed and two were wounded in a strike on the island of Qeshm, which lies just off the Iranian mainland in the Strait of Hormuz. The latest barrage came after the US partnered with Saudi Arabia to strike Iran-backed militias in neighboring Iraq, killing at least 20 fighters and six Iranian advisers on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, US and Saudi forces launched strikes against Iran-aligned groups in eastern Iraq, in retaliation for drone attacks on Saudi oil targets launched from Iraq. The joint attack marked the first time Riyadh has publicly joined strikes alongside Washington.
Egypt incident and oil prices
In Egypt, a drone hit a US-owned gas storage tanker at Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta, British maritime security firm Ambrey said in an initial assessment on Wednesday. A statement from Egypt's Petroleum Ministry confirmed a fire at the port but made no mention of a drone attack. It was not immediately clear who was responsible.
Asked during an Oval Office event if Iran was responsible for the strikes on the natural gas vessels, Trump responded: 'It's a little more of the same.' He added: 'In the meantime, we're going to be hitting them very hard because it's our turn to hit them.' Oil prices shot up on Wednesday in one of the sharpest spikes of the five-month war. Brent crude futures rose more than 8% to push the benchmark well above $90 a barrel, reversing much of a plunge earlier this week when Trump had unexpectedly halted US strikes. On Thursday prices retreated slightly.
