By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, July 23 (Reuters) – The U.S. military said late on Thursday it completed its latest round of strikes on Iran that marked a 13th consecutive night of American attacks.
Here are quotes and details:
• The latest strikes lasted more than two hours, according to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
• “CENTCOM targeted Iranian military command centers, drone storage facilities, communication networks, coastal surveillance sites and maritime capabilities to further diminish the threat Iran poses to civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” it said in a statement.
• President Donald Trump promised “major military punishment” for Iran and its Houthi allies on Thursday after the Yemeni fighters struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, extending the war into a second major shipping chokepoint.
• Tehran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz.
• The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28; Tehran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host U.S. bases.
• U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have since killed thousands and displaced millions.
• Trump has also threatened to target Iranian energy facilities and bridges.
• Iran has warned that if the U.S. carried out such threats, Iranian forces would target regional oil, gas, electricity and economic facilities.
• The 1949 Geneva Conventions on humanitarian conduct in war prohibit attacks on sites considered essential for civilians.
• Such attacks could amount to war crimes, international law experts in the U.S. said in April, after Trump’s previous threats.
• Trump’s threat that month to destroy Iran’s entire civilization also drew wide condemnation.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Thomas Derpinghaus)
