US mounts eighth night of Iran air raids as Tehran strikes Kuwait bases

The United States military confirmed on Sunday that it carried out fresh air strikes against Iran, saying the operation was meant to “swiftly punish” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) after an assault that killed two American service members, left one missing and sent four others to hospital.

Iran’s semi-official Mehr and Tasnim news agencies reported that targets near Sirik in Hormozgan province and on Qeshm Island were struck during the eighth straight night of US aerial attacks on Iranian territory.

According to Iranian accounts, the Sunday-morning assault began near Sirik at 1:30am local time (22:00 GMT on Saturday). Qeshm Island was hit at roughly 3:38am local time (00:08 GMT Sunday) and again at 6:10am (02:40 GMT). Tasnim added that US forces also struck an area near Shadegan in Khuzestan province at 5:55am local time (02:25 GMT Sunday). Those reports said no one was killed and that homes and businesses were not damaged.

US Central Command (CENTCOM), posting on X, said the latest raids were “designed to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.” The command also framed the action as payback for Iranian ballistic-missile and drone assaults on a US installation in Jordan on Friday that claimed the two American lives.

Since fighting started in February, 16 US service members have died and more than 430 have been wounded.

Tasnim earlier carried accounts of blasts in Qom, Arak and Behbahan, which local officials later rejected. The governor of Arak stated that “the situation is completely normal and so far we have not had any reports of attack or explosion.”

Tasnim further reported that Iran’s military struck US assets at two bases in Kuwait. An Iranian army statement said that “In response to the repeated aggressions of the enemy,” forces hit a US “ammunition depot at Al-Adiri camp and the Patriot radar and air radar” at the Ali Al Salem base.

Before the newest US wave began, Iran’s supreme leader had cautioned that continued American attacks would bring “unforgettable lessons.”

What began as a contest over the Strait of Hormuz has, according to reporting on the campaign, expanded to civilian infrastructure such as bridges and drinking-water desalination facilities. State agency IRNA said the Bonji desalination plant was destroyed, interrupting supply for about 10,000 residents, and that another plant on Qeshm Island inside the strait was damaged.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state television that Washington is breaching an interim agreement and is “no longer implementing them.” Iranian officials put the toll from US strikes over the past three weeks at no fewer than 50 dead and more than 500 injured.

Late Saturday, Iran’s embassy in India identified two girls — Sogand Dardmand and Fatemeh Zahra Akbari — among seven people killed in a Thursday US strike on Bandar Khamir in southern Iran.

From Tehran, Al Jazeera correspondent Tohid Asadi said eight nights of bombardment had produced “anger” and “frustration” among Iranians. “People don’t really know whether they are going to see the continuation of this confrontation, or how long it’s going to take, and also if there is a possibility for a diplomatic settlement to resolve all these complexities and find a long-lasting solution,” he said.