US and Iran exchange intense strikes in Middle East

The U.S. military has completed another series of strikes on Iran, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced.

"U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) ended an evening wave of strikes against Ira at 9 p.m. ET on July 15 (4:00 a.m. Moscow Time on July 16). U.S. forces struck Iranian command centers, air defense, missile, and drone sites, as well as coastal observation posts," the command said.

According to CENTCOM, the U.S. military used precision-guided munitions, and the strikes included the city of Bandar Abbas.

Iran's Armed Forces have announced new rounds of retaliatory operations against U.S. military targets in the region featuring missile and drone strikes against facilities in Kuwait and Jordan following overnight U.S. attacks on the Iranian coastline and southern cities.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched strikes against the U.S. Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan, the Mehr news agency reported. The IRGC hit communications systems and fuel storage facilities of the U.S. Armed Forces.

According to the Corps, the operation also targeted the early-warning radar of the C-RAM system at Kuwait's Ali al-Salem Airbase.

IRGC added that an enemy MQ-9 drone was downed over the southwestern city of Andimeshk. The U.S. drone was brought down by a newly deployed air defense system operated by the force’s Aerospace Division.

The operations were accompanied by a warning from the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) that, for now, Iran's reprisal remains focused on U.S. offensive infrastructure in the region, but additional phases will follow.

IRGC spokesperson Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi said the enemy should not expect to prolong the confrontation by turning it into a war of attrition.

“Iran's operations are currently focused on destroying the US’s offensive infrastructure in the region. The next phases will then begin,” Mohebbi said.