Explosions were reported across southern Iran on Thursday night as the United States and Iran exchanged a third consecutive day of strikes, with Iranian authorities confirming at least 14 dead and 78 wounded from American attacks over the previous 48 hours. Local residents and Iranian news agencies described blasts in the port cities of Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Abbas and Bushehr, as well as in Ahvaz. The Iranian health ministry said the casualties were spread across five provinces, though independent verification of the toll was not immediately possible.

According to US Central Command, American forces struck more than 170 military targets inside Iran on Tuesday and Wednesday — a figure roughly fifteen times higher than the previous round of strikes in late June. The targets included air-defence systems, missile and drone storage sites, logistical infrastructure along the Iranian coast, and over 60 fast-attack craft used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. CENTCOM said the operations were intended to degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, after three oil tankers were attacked earlier in the week. Washington did not publicly attribute those tanker attacks to Tehran, but President Donald Trump wrote on social media that the strikes were “a response to Iran’s bombing of the ships” and warned of a much worse situation if such actions were repeated.

Iran’s armed forces said they retaliated by launching what they described as a “massive” barrage of drones and missiles at US military positions in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan. Kuwaiti military officials reported intercepting one cruise missile, three ballistic missiles and ten drones, with one person wounded by falling debris. Jordan said it intercepted eight missiles without casualties or damage. Bahrain also claimed to have shot down several projectiles. The IRGC later stated it had targeted the Azraq base in Jordan and a US command centre in the region. Qatar, which hosts a major American airbase, did not confirm an attack on its territory but issued a public safety warning and condemned the targeting of commercial vessels, calling for a return to diplomacy.

On the ground in Iran, video analysis by the New York Times verified damage to a maritime control tower in Chabahar, airport buildings in Iranshahr, and a dock and the perimeter of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Iranian state media also reported that a railway bridge near Aqqala in the north-east — part of a trade corridor with Russia and China — had been struck, more than 1,100 kilometres from the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC claimed that US intervention in directing ship traffic through the strait had disrupted the gradual reopening of the waterway, where traffic was said to be at half its pre-war level. Tehran insists that vessels may transit only along routes it designates and with its permission, a condition rejected by Washington and other regional states.

Diplomatic efforts intensified as the ceasefire brokered three weeks ago unravelled. The foreign ministers of Turkey and Oman spoke with their Iranian counterpart, urging restraint, while Pakistan’s army chief received a call in which Iran accused the US of violating an understanding Islamabad had helped to facilitate. Qatar’s prime minister held separate talks with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and Turkey. The provisional casualty figures and the full extent of damage on both sides remained subject to ongoing assessment, with no independent monitors able to access all affected sites.