The night of July 20 brought a sharp escalation in the Middle East, after just after midnight Bulgarian time the US launched its ninth consecutive wave of airstrikes against targets on Iranian territory.
An official statement from the US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that the operation aims to radically reduce the combat capabilities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), used to destabilize shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Night Explosions: From the Persian Gulf to Tabriz
In contrast to In the previous days, when the attacks were concentrated mainly on the southern coast, this night the Iranian Tasnim agency reported powerful explosions in the northwestern city of Tabriz.
- New targets: US fighter jets and drones have struck underground weapons depots, radar systems and air defense facilities in Iran.
- Nuclear infrastructure: Iran's Atomic Energy Agency announced in the early hours of the day that several allied shells had fallen within the perimeter of the under-construction Darhovin nuclear power plant in the southwestern part of the country.
- Naval blockade: In parallel with the strikes, the US Navy has intercepted and diverted six merchant ships in an attempt to impose a complete isolation of Iranian ports.
The reaction of Tehran and its allies
In the hours after midnight, Tehran launched retaliatory strikes with kamikaze drones against Gulf states supporting Washington. Kuwait reported further serious damage to critical energy infrastructure, while authorities in Bahrain sounded air raid sirens shortly before 3 a.m. The conflict, which flared up again after Donald Trump announced the end of a fragile ceasefire, has already claimed the lives of 17 American service members, including a soldier who died Saturday in a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone in northern Iraq.