U.S. Attacks Iranian Infrastructure, Iran Continues to Strike U.S. Targets in the Middle East

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 17 - According to reports from Xinhua's foreign correspondents: The U.S. Central Command stated on the 16th that at 21:40 Eastern Time (09:40 Beijing Time on the 17th), the U.S. military completed the latest round of large-scale strikes against Iran. Multiple Iranian media reported that the U.S. military attacked infrastructure in southern Iran, including airports, bridges, and train stations, resulting in multiple casualties. Meanwhile, Iranian armed forces continued to strike U.S. military targets in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Syria.

On the same day, the U.S. Central Command stated on social media that the U.S. military used fighter jets, drones, and warships to launch precision-guided munitions, hitting dozens of Iranian military targets, including coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, military logistics infrastructure, and maritime combat facilities. The operation lasted a total of 7 hours and 40 minutes. This marks the sixth consecutive night of U.S. strikes against Iran.

According to reports from Iranian media such as Tasnim News Agency on the evening of the 16th and the 17th, the U.S. military attacked multiple infrastructure sites in southern Iran, including airports, bridges, and train stations, resulting in multiple casualties.

Reports indicate that Shaher Airport in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province was hit by U.S. missile strikes, causing a power outage at the airport and injuring one person. The U.S. military also launched attacks on roads, train stations, and bridges in a port city in Hormozgan Province, where six bridges were destroyed, resulting in 7 deaths and 9 injuries.

Reports also stated that the U.S. military launched missile strikes against the naval base at Chabahar Port in southern Iran. This was the third attack on the base by the U.S. military in the past week. The Chabahar naval lookout tower was also attacked by the U.S. military.

According to comprehensive reports from Iranian media on the 17th, based on a statement from the Iranian military, Iran launched drones to strike U.S. military camps and logistics support centers in Kuwait, as well as the deployment sites of helicopters and P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft at a U.S. airbase in Bahrain. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that it attacked a U.S. special operations command center in the Tanf area of Syria in retaliation for the killing of Iranian soldiers.

The Qatari Ministry of Interior issued a statement on the 17th, stating that Iran launched an attack on Qatar that morning, injuring a child due to falling shrapnel during an air defense interception operation, and the child is currently receiving treatment. Xinhua reporters heard multiple explosions from air defense interceptions in the Qatari capital, Doha, on the same day.

The Qatari International Media Office issued a statement on social media on the 16th, denying the "false reports" published by Israeli media, which claimed that Qatar had agreed to participate in military actions against Iran. The statement said that these false reports aim to drag Qatar into the conflict, undermine its key role in mediation, and push the region towards further escalation and chaos.

Earlier on the 16th, U.S. White House Press Secretary Levitt stated at a White House press conference that Iran is still actively communicating with the U.S. and expressed a desire to reach an agreement with the U.S., while the U.S. is indeed communicating with Iran. She also attributed the responsibility for the U.S. strikes against Iran to Iran, claiming that Iran violated the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding by firing on commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. cannot "sit idly by."

Levitt also stated that over 10,000 U.S. Navy sailors, Marines, and Air Force personnel, along with two aircraft carriers, more than 20 warships, and dozens of aircraft, are currently executing blockade missions.

The U.S. Central Command stated on the 16th that U.S. Marines boarded an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman for inspection that day. Since the U.S. resumed maritime blockade against Iran on the 14th, the U.S. military has forced three commercial vessels attempting to breach the blockade to change course, causing one "non-compliant" vessel to lose navigational capability and conducting boarding inspections on another vessel.

Iran's "Balance" news agency denied President Trump's statement on the 15th that Iran had allowed an American citizen to leave Iran. The agency reported that, upon verification, no American convicted prisoner or spy matching the characteristics described by Trump has been released or exchanged from Iranian prisons.