The US has expanded its aerial offensive against Iran, hitting a city hosting a nuclear power plant, while Iran has responded with strikes on Bahrain and Kuwait, as diplomats insist talks are ongoing.
Iranian media on Monday reported strikes around Tabriz, believed to hold underground missile bases, as well as Bushehr, home to the country’s only operational civilian nuclear power plant as the US military said it had struck “military command centers, air defence and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and communications networks”.
Iran launched attacks against Bahrain, which hosts the US navy’s fifth fleet, and Kuwait, in addition to striking tankers in the strait of Hormuz, which carried a fifth of global oil and gas supplies before the war.
Sailors prepare U.S. Marine Corps F-35B stealth fighter jets for takeoff aboard USS Boxer (LHD 4) while transiting the Arabian Sea. Boxer is the flagship for the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group / 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. pic.twitter.com/hyNJILD17i
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 19, 2026
