US-Iran Fighting Escalates as American Strike on Wedding Kills Four, Tehran Hits Bases Across the Region
Hostilities between the United States and Iran sharply intensified overnight into Wednesday, as Tehran launched retaliatory strikes on American-linked bases in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq following a fresh wave of US attacks that Iranian officials say killed civilians at a wedding celebration.
According to Iran's Red Crescent, cited by Iranian outlets, a US missile strike sent shrapnel into a home in Kuhestak, Sirik county, Hormozgan province, where a wedding was underway. The organization said more than 50 people were injured and four killed, including a young child. Iran's semi-official IRNA and state broadcaster IRIB also reported explosions across Bandar Abbas, Chabahar, Qeshm Island, Konarak and Sirik, with a fishmeal factory, a fishing pier and a maritime authority tower among the sites hit. Officials in Hormozgan said the strikes knocked out sections of the regional power grid, cutting electricity to parts of Kish Island.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), through its affiliated Tasnim and Fars news agencies, declared that a "decisive operation" against US forces had begun, claiming ballistic missile strikes on Jordan's Prince Hassan airbase and a US Marine facility, drone attacks on Bahrain's Sheikh Isa Air Base, and coordinated strikes on US positions in Erbil, Iraq. IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebi warned Washington it would "regret its new attacks," saying "severe punishment awaits the aggressors." Military spokesman Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari said operations would continue until the US "regrets its crimes."
In his first public remarks since the renewed fighting began, Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on his Telegram channel that "the Iranian people and the Resistance Front have unforgettable lessons to teach the American enemy."
Jordan's armed forces said they detected 13 incoming ballistic missiles, intercepting 10, with three landing in remote areas and no casualties reported. Bahrain's interior ministry issued a public safety alert urging residents to seek shelter, while Kuwait's military also reported coming under missile and drone attack.
US Central Command said it had completed its own strikes, describing them as targeting IRGC assets tied to shipping threats and mine-laying activity near the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump warned that any Iranian retaliation would bring a "much harder" response, calling Iran "a failed nation" while insisting Washington's aims remained limited.
The exchange marks the most serious escalation since a fragile framework agreement was reached in June, with oil prices climbing on renewed fears over shipping through Hormuz.