The United States and Iran exchanged heavy fire near Iran's only civilian nuclear power plant on Wednesday, shattering a fragile ceasefire and escalating hostilities across the Gulf.
US Central Command deployed F-35 fighter jets armed with JASSM and Hellfire missiles from the USS Abraham Lincoln, positioned 250 kilometres off Iran's coast, to strike naval bases in Sirik, Qeshm, and Bushehr province. Multiple explosions were reported across southern Iran, though Iranian officials said the Bushehr nuclear reactor itself was not hit. Iran's foreign ministry called the bombings a "flagrant war crime" and an Italian news agency reported no casualties in the midday strikes, which also hit a fishing pier in Assaluyeh.
In retaliation, Iran targeted 85 sites at US military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar, while downing a US MQ-9 reconnaissance drone over Bushehr province. Russian technicians previously stationed at the nuclear site had been evacuated weeks earlier. The attacks marked a blatant violation of the ceasefire between the two countries.