US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to attack Iranian civilian infrastructure, a potential violation of international law, unless it returns to the negotiating table. Photo by Graeme Sloan/UPI | License Photo
July 15 (UPI) -- The United States and Iran traded attacks Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning as their war over the Strait of Hormuz continued to spiral, with President Donald Trump renewing threats to target civilian infrastructure.
The two nations have been trading nearly nightly strikes since last week, when Iran struck commercial shipping transiting the vital energy route.
While the broader war began in late February with the United States seeking to dismantle Iran's military and nuclear programs and encourage the overthrow of its government, the current chapter is centered on control of the Strait of Hormuz. Washington is fighting to restore freedom of navigation through the chokepoint, while Tehran is fighting to preserve its ability to restrict passage as leverage.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps early Wednesday claimed to have hit U.S. military assets in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, as U.S. Central Command said late Tuesday that it had completed a seven-hour wave of strikes, hitting Iranian naval capabilities, coastal defense systems and missile and drone sites near the Strait of Hormuz and elsewhere along Iran's coast.
