U.S. Military Announces New Round of Strikes Against Iran

On July 12, Xinhua News Agency reported from Washington (reporters Huang Qiang and Xu Jianmei) that the U.S. Central Command announced on social media that at 5 PM Eastern Time on the 12th, the U.S. military began a new round of strikes against Iran, aimed at "continuing to weaken its ability to attack commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz."

This marks the fourth time this week that the U.S. military has launched strikes against Iran.

On the 11th, U.S. Central Command stated that the U.S. military had completed its third strike against Iran that week. The U.S. military targeted approximately 140 Iranian military sites, including missile and drone launch positions, naval equipment, ammunition storage facilities, communication networks, and coastal monitoring stations. Iran subsequently announced a series of strikes against U.S. targets in the Middle East. Previously, on the 7th and 8th, the U.S. military conducted military strikes against Iran for two consecutive days in response to recent Iranian attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran launched missile and drone attacks on U.S. facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Jordan.

According to Iranian media reports early on the 13th local time, explosions were heard in multiple locations, including the Iranian port of Abbas and the Sirik region.