US Strikes Iran 11th Night, Expands to Tabriz
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- US Central Command (CENTCOM) launched an 11th consecutive night of strikes against Iran, with the operation beginning at 7pm Eastern Time (2300 GMT) on Tuesday, and stated the campaign aims to degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
- Explosions were reported in Tabriz in northwestern Iran — a geographic departure from the prior pattern of strikes, which had largely focused on southern Iran and the area around the Strait of Hormuz.
- Iranian state-linked agencies reported a wider blast footprint: Fars news agency cited air defence activity in northeastern Tehran, while Tasnim reported explosions in Bushehr and around Sirik in southern Iran.
- The renewed strikes followed the breakdown of a June 17 memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran, after which both sides have been competing for control of the vital Gulf waterway.
- Earlier on Tuesday, the Kuwaiti army said it was intercepting an Iranian drone attack, part of what the source describes as repeated Iranian strikes on Gulf countries including Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar since US attacks resumed this month.
Why it matters: The Tabriz strike marks a geographic escalation in an 11-day campaign previously concentrated in southern Iran and around the Strait of Hormuz. With Iran simultaneously launching drones at Kuwait and explosions reported near Bushehr — home to Iran's nuclear power plant — the conflict is visibly widening beyond shipping-lane targeting to inland Iranian cities and Gulf-state territory.
