Local time on Friday, a series of explosions were heard near a military base housing US troops in northern Iraq, hours after the US announced the end of airstrikes against Iran on the 13th night. Bahrain also sounded alarms in response.
Over the past week, the conflict has escalated once again, with the US launching intense airstrikes on Iranian military targets while Iran attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz and targeted US assets and allies in the region.
The Strait of Hormuz is a critical passage for global energy supply, and Iran’s attacks have disrupted the passage, leading to a surge in global oil prices and widespread economic turmoil. The strait has thus become the focal point of the latest conflict. This week, Houthi rebels allied with Iran attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, threatening to cut off another sea route for oil transportation in the region.
The US airstrikes targeted Iran’s military command centers, drone storage facilities, communication networks, coastal monitoring posts, and maritime combat capabilities, aiming to further weaken Iran’s threat to civilian merchant ships and crews. Currently, there are no apparent signs of the conflict coming to an end.
According to reports by the Associated Press, on Friday morning, a journalist from the Associated Press in the Kurdish region’s capital Erbil in Iraq heard at least seven explosions and saw at least four plumes of black smoke rising from near or within the city’s airport.
Iran also launched attacks on multiple countries hosting US troops in the region. Bahrain sounded alarms twice on Friday. Currently, there are no reports of casualties or property damage.
According to reports from the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars News Agency and the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) on Friday morning, the US conducted airstrikes on the naval base of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in northern Iran. It was also reported that Qeshm Island in Iran was bombed by US forces at night. The island serves as a base for Iranian naval vessels, including unmanned boats that Iran could use to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Additionally, Isfahan province, which houses an important air force base and a nuclear facility, was attacked. Khuzestan province in southwest Iran and Fars province in the south were also subjected to airstrikes.
The US Central Command stated that the airstrikes aimed to “further weaken Iran’s ability to threaten commercial ships and crews passing through the region’s waters.” The US is striving to regain control of the Strait of Hormuz as during times of peace, one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas transportation passes through this strait.