The U.S. struck Iranian air defense positions and command centers
Starting on July 15 and continuing into the night of July 16, the United States carried out two waves of strikes on Iranian territory. The targets of the attacks included a number of military facilities in Tehran, as well as a tanker heading for Iranian ports.
The first wave of strikes against Iran began at 6:00 a.m. and lasted until 7:30 a.m. on July 15, Washington time (1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Kyiv time).
Following this, CENTCOM reported that during the 90-minute attack, U.S. forces fired munitions at Iranian coastal defense systems, as well as at storage and launch sites for cruise missiles on Great Tund Island.
“These strikes further weakened Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz,” the statement said.
Later that same day, starting at 3:00 p.m. local time, the U.S. military launched a new series of strikes against Iran. It lasted until 9:00 p.m. (which was from 11:00 p.m. on July 15 to 4:00 a.m. on July 16 in Kyiv).
During the new attack, the U.S. struck Iranian command centers, air defense facilities, missile and drone systems, as well as coastal reconnaissance facilities.
The goal of all these actions is to further weaken Iran’s ability to “threaten peaceful sailors aboard commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.”
In addition, during the attacks, the U.S. struck an empty oil tanker that was attempting to head toward an Iranian port in the Persian Gulf.
"CENTCOM monitored the passage of the M/T Belma, flying the flag of Curaçao, through international waters toward Harg Island. The commercial vessel ignored numerous warnings as it attempted to breach the U.S. blockade. A U.S. aircraft disabled the vessel by firing Hellfire missiles at its smokestack. The vessel is no longer heading toward Iran," the post stated.
It was noted that the blockade of Iranian ports remains in effect.
This was stated in a post by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on social media platform X.
As a reminder, Iran has stated that it may block additional trade routes in response to new U.S. strikes, according to BBC News World.
The United States’ costs for conducting a military operation in Iran could turn out to be significantly higher than previous estimates, reaching between $80 billion and $100 billion. This amount is nearly three times higher than the figures publicly announced by the Pentagon, due to the need to replace destroyed equipment, replenish weapons stockpiles, and repair damaged military facilities.
Trump officially notified Congress of the resumption of the U.S. war with Iran.
