The US launched two waves of attacks on Iran's coastal defenses and missile sites on Wednesday after reimposing a naval blockade of its ports, while Iran struck back by targeting US military sites in neighboring countries in what it called an "existential war" with America. The latest escalation comes days after a fragile truce collapsed, raising the specter of a return to full-scale war, with Iran once again threatening to shut off more regional energy exports. Hostilities have intensified since Iran said late on Saturday it had closed the Strait of Hormuz.

Military operations are also keeping ships from transiting the vital artery, which carried about a fifth of global oil and gas shipments before the war. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, closed at a one-month high of $84.95 a barrel on Wednesday. US Central Command said the military had attacked coastal defense systems and cruise missile storage and launch sites on Iran's Greater Tunb Island starting around 6:00 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT), then launched a second wave of strikes against multiple cities nine hours later. 

"US forces struck Iranian command centers, air defense sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities," it said in a statement, adding it also hit targets in Bandar Abbas, home to Iran's largest port and key navy and Iran's Revolutionary Guards facilities on the Strait of Hormuz. "Earlier this morning, American forces struck coastal defense and cruise missile sites on Greater Tunb Island during a 90-minute wave,” the US military added. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Wednesday it had struck US military targets in the region, including in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. The Guards said they targeted a gathering for US military personnel and a radar system at Ali Al Salem air base in Kuwait with a missile and drone attack. Three US officials told Reuters that US strikes aimed at forcing open the strait are also targeting Iranian military capabilities the US would want to destroy before executing more complex operations. 

The US military also said it disabled an unladen oil tanker attempting to sail toward Iran's Kharg Island after it ignored multiple warnings, firing Hellfire missiles into the ship's smokestack. Since resuming a naval blockade against Iran on Tuesday, the US ?has redirected two ships and disabled another, the military said. Iranian news media reported a series of explosions, mainly in coastal areas such as Bandar Abbas. Other explosions or projectile strikes were reported around the city of Ahvaz, ?just inland from the northern end of the Gulf, and Konarak, Sirik and Qeshm in southern Iran. 

Press TV reported at least two explosions in the central Iranian city of Khondab, about 250 km (155 miles) southwest of Tehran. Mehr news agency reported ?Iran activated its ?air defenses in Tehran to counter "hostile threats." Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported that the US attacks struck near a hospital in Ahvaz that houses a pediatric cancer center, forcing the temporary evacuation of the hospital. Families have come out to the streets around the hospital to care for their children, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) said.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)