Daijiworld Media Network - Tehran
Tehran, Jul 18: Multiple explosions were reported across several Iranian provinces on Friday night after the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced a fresh round of military strikes targeting Iran, marking the seventh consecutive night of operations.
According to Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency, blasts were heard in Bushehr province and in Sirik and Qeshm counties of Hormozgan province. However, officials have not yet released information regarding the specific targets, casualties or the extent of the damage.
Iran's official IRNA news agency also reported that at least five explosions were heard in the central province of Yazd.
In a statement posted on social media platform X, CENTCOM confirmed that US forces had launched another wave of strikes aimed at further weakening Iran's military capabilities. It said the operations were part of an ongoing campaign intended to degrade Iran's defence infrastructure.
A day earlier, CENTCOM said American fighter aircraft, drones and naval warships had carried out precision strikes on dozens of Iranian military installations. The targets reportedly included coastal surveillance systems, air defence sites, logistics facilities and maritime infrastructure.
Among the locations struck was the surveillance tower at Chah Bahar Shahid Kalantari Port, which CENTCOM claimed was part of a network used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to monitor commercial shipping passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, the IRGC announced that it had carried out retaliatory attacks earlier on Friday against a facility in Bahrain that allegedly housed US unmanned surface vessels. In a statement carried by its official outlet Sepah News, the IRGC claimed that a large number of the vessels were destroyed.
The Iranian force also said its missile and drone strikes targeted what it described as the primary artificial intelligence centre in Bahrain, alleging that it was used by the United States for military targeting operations. The IRGC claimed the facility had been completely destroyed.
Separately, the IRGC stated that its air defence units had shot down an AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven reconnaissance drone over Ramshir County in Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province, describing it as another response to what it called hostile military activity.