US strikes Iran's Revolutionary Guard in response to deaths of US soldiers

“The US military carried out air strikes against Iran's Revolutionary Guard on Sunday in retaliation for the deaths of American soldiers in Jordan.

 

The US military's Central Command said in a statement that it had struck "Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, naval capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities."

 

It also said for the first time that it had specifically targeted the Guard, the main power center of Iran's theocracy, which controls the country's ballistic missile arsenal.

 

Video released by the US military showed the strikes, which were carried out by fighter jets and sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles. One of the targets was in a valley in a mountainous region. The Guard often hides missile bases and other military equipment in mountain ranges.

 

Iran has not provided any overall figures on its material losses in the US campaign, which is now in its eighth day, as the countries compete for control of the Strait of Hormuz.

 

Two US soldiers were killed, one was missing and four were hospitalized in an Iranian attack on a base in Jordan, the US military said.

 

16 US soldiers have been killed and more than 430 wounded since the war began in February.

 

Iranian officials said on Saturday that at least 50 people had been killed and more than 500 wounded in the latest US strikes.

 

UAE warning

 

Nearly all Arab Gulf states have been targeted by Iranian retaliatory strikes, and on Saturday, Saudi Arabia sounded alarm bells over a missile threat. However, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was not attacked after the renewed military action.

 

But Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency, considered close to the Guard, issued a threat to the UAE on Saturday. Citing an official who spoke on condition of anonymity, Fars said that further strikes on Iranian civilian infrastructure would mean “the airports of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as the ports of Fujairah and Jebel Ali, must be evacuated immediately.”

 

In response to the threat, the UAE’s foreign ministry issued a statement calling for “maximum restraint to avoid dangerous consequences and dragging the region into a new level of violence and instability.”

 

“The UAE stressed that targeting civilian infrastructure and civilian objects in the region  is a clear and grave violation of established principles and provisions of international law and cannot be accepted or justified under any circumstances,” the statement added.

 

During the war with Iran, both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have carried out retaliatory airstrikes after Tehran targeted their countries, officials said.

 

The secretary-general of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, Jassem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, has accused Iran of war crimes for its attacks on infrastructure and civilians.

The Strait of Hormuz

 

US President Donald Trump has threatened to target Iranian power plants and bridges to force Tehran to weaken its control of the Strait of Hormuz. The attacks in recent days suggest the US military is carrying out that plan, starting with Iran’s coastal areas near the strait.

 

The US also reimposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports last week to stop the flow of crude oil, and the military said on Saturday that it had since diverted five ships and taken one out of action.

 

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned in a statement on Saturday of “unforgettable lessons” if the United States continues to attack the Islamic Republic.

 

An Iranian negotiator said Tehran was suspending its commitments under an interim agreement signed about a month ago that aims to permanently end the fighting.

 

Iran’s military leadership said any “greed, bullying, totalitarianism or cruelty” by the United States would be met with a “crushing response.””