TEHRAN: Iran declared on Monday that it was engaged in a “full-scale war” with the United States as Washington widened its military campaign, launching strikes deeper into the country, including Bushehr, home to Iran’s only operational civilian nuclear power plant.
Iran also continued retaliatory attacks across the region. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it struck targets in Bahrain, Jordan, Syria and Kuwait, while Bahrain accused Tehran of targeting its air navigation systems.
“The reality is that today the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in a full-scale war,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said, according to a presidency statement.
He added that “we must be realistic and accept the natural consequences of this resistance”.
The latest escalation followed US strikes reported in northern and central Iran, extending beyond areas near the Strait of Hormuz. State media and local officials said several provinces housing military installations and air defence systems were hit.
The renewed hostilities come after a weeks-long pause under a June agreement collapsed. Iran reinstated its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States responded by tightening restrictions on Iranian ports. Oil prices climbed to a one-month high amid concerns over disruption to the strategic shipping lane.
In Bushehr province, Governor Mohammad Mozaffari told IRNA that “A few minutes ago, several locations in Bushehr city were hit by American enemy’s projectiles.”
In East Azerbaijan province, crisis management chief Majid Farshi said “one person was martyred and several others injured” in an attack.
Despite the intensified fighting, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said indirect diplomatic contacts with Washington through mediators were continuing.
“Ideas have been conveyed to us by certain mediators,” he told a press conference in Tehran.
An AFP source in Pakistan’s interior ministry said Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni was expected to visit Islamabad on Monday, although no reason for the trip was disclosed.
Ship ablaze in Hormuz
In the Strait of Hormuz, sailors evacuated a vessel after it caught fire in an attack, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency.
Earlier, the Revolutionary Guards said two oil tankers attempting to pass through the strait had exploded and were forced to stop, Tasnim news agency reported.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday urged countries to help safeguard international shipping routes.
Baqaei, however, said Iran would not allow the strategic waterway to be used by its adversaries “to threaten Iran’s security and national interests”.
US Central Command (Centcom) said it had completed a ninth consecutive night of strikes on Iran, while Rubio said he would “continue to try” to pursue a diplomatic resolution.
The latest clashes followed the deaths of three additional US service members and one soldier reported missing over the weekend.
According to Centcom, two troops were killed in Iranian missile and drone attacks in Jordan on Friday, while another died in northern Iraq during the controlled disposal of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian drone.
President Donald Trump said US strikes on Iran “hit them very hard” in tribute to the fallen personnel.
The latest fatalities raised the confirmed US military death toll to 17 since the conflict began with a large-scale US-Israeli strike on Iran.
Iran’s health ministry said on Friday that recent fighting had killed 50 people and injured more than 500.
Regional strikes
The Revolutionary Guards said they also launched overnight attacks against targets in Syria, Jordan and Kuwait.
According to a statement carried by state media, Iranian forces carried out “a surprise attack on the enemy special operations command centre in the Al-Tanf region” in Syria. US troops withdrew from Al-Tanf in February.
The Guards also said they targeted US military aircraft stationed at Jordan’s Aqaba Airport “with ballistic missiles, causing severe damage to a number of them”.
In Kuwait, the IRGC claimed it struck US military facilities, including an early-warning radar system that was “completely destroyed”.
Kuwait’s military said its air defences were “engaging hostile drone attacks following Iranian aggression”.
Bahrain’s interior ministry also activated air raid sirens and urged residents to move to “the nearest safe place”.
