Key facts
- Multiple explosions were reported across southern Iran, including Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, and Bushehr Province.
- US Central Command confirmed strikes against Iranian military facilities.
- The US strikes targeted surveillance systems, drones, and missile capabilities.
- Two children were wounded in a US attack on a residential house on Qeshm Island.
- Israeli officials denied involvement in the blasts.
Multiple explosions were reported across southern Iran, with residents citing detonations in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Kish Island, Jam in Bushehr Province, and Abu Musa Island. US Central Command (CENTCOM) disclosed strikes against Iran, marking the third consecutive night of attacks. CENTCOM stated the campaign imposed a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degraded their ability to target civilians and commercial shipping in the strategic waterway. CNN reported, citing US officials, that the operation targeted Iranian military facilities housing surveillance systems, drones, and missile capabilities.
Earlier reports indicated two powerful blasts rocked Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas and southwestern Khuzestan province. Social media reports had speculated that Israel and the United States orchestrated these explosions, with claims that a top naval commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was targeted in Bandar Abbas. However, Israeli officials denied any involvement, and Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency called the reports about targeting a commander "completely false."
Iranian state media reported a powerful explosion in an eight-storey building on Moallem Boulevard in Bandar Abbas, destroying two floors, several vehicles, and shops. No deaths were reported at the time of filing. A separate blast in Iran’s Khuzestan province reportedly killed four people, attributed to a gas explosion in Ahvaz city. State media indicated the causes of both blasts were under investigation.
Further blasts were heard in parts of the southern Iranian city of Ahvaz. Elsewhere in Qeshm Island, the Director General of Crisis Management of the Hormozgan Governorate said that there are ongoing search and rescue operations after a residential house belonging to a family of five was struck in a US attack. "So far, two children have been pulled out from under the rubble and transferred to medical centres, and efforts are ongoing to rescue three other members of this family," Mehrdad Hassanzadeh said.
These incidents occur amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States. President Donald Trump had recently threatened a "Venezuela-style operation" in Iran if Tehran did not negotiate a nuclear deal, warning of a "massive Armada" heading towards Iran.