Iran Targets U.S. Bases in Gulf as Ceasefire Crumbles

The escalation coincides with national mourning in Iran, where officials are preparing to bury Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Mashhad shrine. While MiG-29 jets patrol the skies to secure the procession, the ground reality remains grim. Explosions rocked the Bushehr province, with reports confirming a U.S. projectile struck the perimeter of a Russian-built nuclear power plant. Local officials reported strikes on a fishing dock and a rail bridge critical to trade with Russia and China.

Washington maintains the campaign is a necessary response to Iranian aggression against commercial shipping. U.S. Central Command confirmed strikes on 90 targets, including air defense systems and naval logistics assets. President Donald Trump, speaking from a NATO summit in Turkey, declared the interim ceasefire effectively dead, though he dismissed the prospect of a prolonged regional war. Meanwhile, Iranian negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned that the Strait of Hormuz would only reopen under Iranian terms, signaling that Tehran intends to leverage its control over the waterway to force a stalemate. Despite the exchange of fire, regional powers like Qatar are scrambling to revive diplomatic channels, even as falling shrapnel and intercepted missiles over Jordan underscore the widening geographic reach of the conflict.