By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, July 7 (Reuters) – The U.S. Central Command said on Tuesday it completed a new round of strikes on Iran and that it had struck over 80 targets during its latest attacks.
Along with unleashing a new wave of strikes against Iran, Washington had also revoked a license allowing the country to sell oil after three tankers were hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz.
“U.S. forces struck Iranian air defense systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities, and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats in and near the strait (of Hormuz) to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking international commerce flowing through the international trade corridor,” the U.S. military said in a statement.
“CENTCOM forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable when the agreement is not adhered to or obeyed.”
Iran’s top joint military command said Iranian armed forces would deliver a “crushing response,” accusing Washington of what it called a “blatant act of aggression,” while warning that Tehran would not allow U.S. interference in the management of the Strait of Hormuz.
The ceasefire in the Iran war has remained fragile. The war began when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host U.S. bases.
U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon during the war have killed thousands and displaced millions. The war has also spiked oil prices and shaken markets around the world.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
