- Published
The US military says it has completed a "heavy wave" of strikes against Iran in retaliation for Tuesday's attempted ballistic missile attacks on American forces.
asserted
it → publish → forces
Centcom said it hit "dozens" of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in response to Iran's firing on US bases in Jordan and at ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
asserted
it → say → Hormuz
Iranian state media said the latest strikes had killed three people, including a two-year-old child, on Qeshm island, while other locations were also hit in the south and west of the country.
asserted
locations → say → country
The latest hostilities come on a week that has seen the conflict expand, with the first publicly announced joint US-Saudi strikes targeting Iranian proxies in Iraq.
asserted
conflict → come → Iraq
When the US and Israel launched military strikes on Iran in February, President Donald Trump said the war would last only a few weeks, but it has gone on for five months with no end in sight.
asserted
it → launch → sight
On Wednesday, news outlet Axios cited an unnamed US official as saying that Trump had met Saudi defence minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, who had conveyed that Saudi Arabia wants to de-escalate tensions.
asserted
Arabia → cite → tensions
The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.
asserted
BBC → contact → comment
Meanwhile, the Egyptian government said a fire at a port on Wednesday had been caused by a drone attack.
asserted
fire → say → attack
Egypt, a US ally, has not previously been directly attacked during the war.
asserted
Egypt → attack → war
The US-Iran conflict has reignited after several days of relative calm.
asserted
conflict → reignite → calm
For days, both sides halted strikes as talks apparently restarted in hopes of some type of diplomatic solution.
asserted
talks → halt → solution
Trump called them "very friendly negotiations", though Tehran denied any discussions were happening.
asserted
discussions → call → them
But following the Iranian missile attack on a US base in Jordan on Tuesday, Trump vowed to retaliate, telling reporters at the White House: "We're going to be hitting them very hard because it's our turn to hit them.
asserted
it → follow → them
They know it's coming.
asserted
it → know → ?
They asked us not to do it."
asserted
They → ask → it
The latest wave of US strikes started at 20:00 ET on Wednesday (01:00 BST on Thursday) and lasted about an hour, with Centcom calling them a "powerful response to yesterday's attempted Iranian attacks on US forces based in the Middle East".
asserted
Centcom → start → East
All of Iran's missiles were intercepted, Centcom said.
asserted
Centcom → intercept → missiles
The attack by the US targeted "military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, and maritime capabilities," Centcom wrote once the strikes were complete.
asserted
strikes → target → centers
Iranian state media agency Irib reported that the islands of Qeshm and Abadan, both central to the oil industry, were among the areas hit.
"
asserted
islands → report → areas
A US attack on a residential home in the Chah Tangu neighbourhood of Qeshm killed three members of a family: the father, the mother, and their 2-year-old child," Fars reported citing the Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences.
asserted
Fars → kill → Sciences
Meanwhile, Jordan's armed forces said that air defence systems had successfully shot down five Iranian missiles targeting the Kingdom's territory on Thursday.
asserted
systems → say → Thursday
On Tuesday, the IRGC said it had targeted a US air base and a command centre in Jordan "in response to the acts of aggression of the American child-killing army".
asserted
it → say → army
It also said naval forces had struck three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz after they "ignored warnings" and sailed along what it described as an "unsafe and illegal route" through the vital Gulf waterway.
asserted
it → say → waterway
Last Friday, Trump suspended an intensive bombing campaign that had lasted for 13 consecutive nights.
asserted
that → suspend → nights
The US said it had targeted Iranian weapons and military sites.
asserted
it → say → weapons
Scores of people were reported to have died.
asserted
Scores → report → people
On Tuesday, Centcom said the joint US-Saudi strikes hit "multiple terrorist logistics and weapons sites across eastern Iraq in a strong response to over 30 IRGC-directed aerial drone attacks in the last 72 hours".
asserted
strikes → say → hours
Iraq's paramilitary Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), which is dominated by Iran-backed Shia militias, said at least 20 of its members had been killed in US-Saudi strikes on its bases.
asserted
20 → dominate → bases
The Iraqi presidency said it denounced the bombing of the PMF bases, calling it "an unacceptable attack and a blatant violation of Iraq's sovereignty".
But Trump told Fox News the strikes had been "co-ordinated with the Iraqi government".
asserted
strikes → say → government
Saudi Arabia, which sees itself as the leading Sunni Muslim power, and Iran, the largest Shia Muslim country, have been locked in a struggle for regional dominance for decades.
asserted
which → see → decades
The Aporia
