K-Points

Iran retaliates following US airstrikes

The United States launched a fresh wave of military strikes targeting what it described as "a number of coastal bases and non-military stations" in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province and the port city of Mahshahr. The strikes mark a significant escalation in the ongoing confrontation between the two nations.

In a  large-scale response, the naval and aerospace forces of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) carried a joint missile and drone operation. According to Iranian state media, the operation struck 85 locations tied to key U.S. military installations. The targeted sites included facilities at Salman Port, the U.S. Fifth Fleet’s area of operations in Bahrain, and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait.

Iranian officials said that US attacks were as a deliberate attempt to divert global attention from the massive funeral processions taking place across Iran and Iraq. These processions were held for the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, whose death has sparked widespread mourning and demonstrations of political solidarity. Tehran argued that the sheer scale of the funerals represented a significant political defeat for Washington, and that the U.S. military action was a desperate move to overshadow the event.