The United States expanded its military operations against Iran on July 15, with U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) carrying out multiple waves of strikes targeting Iranian military infrastructure linked to threats against shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM said an evening wave of strikes ended at 9 p.m. ET on July 15 after hitting Iranian command centers, air defense sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities, including targets in Bandar Abbas.
Earlier in the day, U.S. forces struck coastal defense and cruise missile sites on Greater Tunb Island during a 90-minute operation. At 3 p.m. ET, CENTCOM launched a second wave of strikes against Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. military said the operations were carried out at the direction of the Commander in Chief.
CENTCOM also said it enforced naval blockade measures against Iran on July 15 by disabling the Curacao-flagged oil tanker M/T Belma after it allegedly ignored multiple warnings while sailing toward Kharg Island. The U.S. said a military aircraft fired Hellfire missiles into the vessel’s smokestack, leaving the unladen tanker unable to continue its voyage. According to CENTCOM, naval blockade operations resumed at 4 p.m. ET on July 14, with two compliant commercial vessels redirected and one non-compliant vessel disabled during the first 24 hours.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said an MQ-9 drone was shot down in Andimeshk. Mehr News Agency also reported that Iranian air defense systems were activated in Tehran, while Iranian state media said two explosions were heard east of the Port of Hormuz. Iran’s Hormozgan provincial government said a location near Sirik was struck by U.S. artillery, and Iranian sources reported U.S. shelling of Qeshm Island in the early hours of July 16.
Mehr News Agency reported that an Iranian military spokesman said U.S. compliance with a memorandum of understanding and implementation of “Iranian regulations” in the Strait of Hormuz was the only way to reopen the waterway. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also said it struck a concentration of U.S. forces at Kuwait’s Ali Al Salem Air Base. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the Strait of Hormuz is a pillar of Iran’s national security and that Tehran must preserve its existing arrangements in the vital shipping route.
Iranian state media reported explosions in Konarak in Sistan and Baluchestan province and Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province late on July 15 into early July 16 after what it described as the second round of U.S. strikes that day. State television also reported that multiple shells struck the vicinity of a pediatric cancer hospital in Ahvaz, Khuzestan province, prompting a temporary evacuation. Iran’s Health Ministry said recent U.S. strikes have killed 35 people and injured more than 300, with Hormozgan, Sistan-Baluchestan, and Khuzestan among the hardest-hit provinces.
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