US and Iran Exchange Strikes as
Tensions Soar Across the Region

Washington, 8 Jul 2026 (ONA) — The
United States and Iran have exchanged military strikes as tensions escalated
sharply, with US Central Command announcing that its forces had struck more
than 80 targets in Iran.

The strikes targeted Iranian air
defence systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti‑ship
missile capabilities, and more than 60 small vessels belonging to the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps at multiple locations, Central Command said in a
statement.

The US military said the strikes
were launched in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels
transiting the region.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said
their naval and aerospace forces had carried out a joint operation using missiles
and drones, striking 85 sites in the region in retaliation for the US attacks.

Separately, the IRGC said it had
shot down a US MQ‑9 drone over Bushehr province in southern Iran, Iranian state
television reported.

Rocket warning sirens sounded in
Bahrain following the US strikes, while Kuwaiti air defences intercepted a
number of hostile drones and missiles.

— Ends/Khalid