The US military struck targets across five Iranian provinces on July 8 and 9, including a location near the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Iran’s atomic energy organization confirmed that “a projectile hit inside the enclosure” of the plant at 21:08 local time.
The plant itself was not damaged, according to Iranian officials. No casualties were reported at the site. But the symbolism of striking near a nuclear facility is hard to miss.
This is the fourth time Bushehr has been hit since the war began in February. Previous strikes occurred on March 18, March 24, and April 4, the last of which killed a security guard, confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iranian state media reported that 14 people were killed and 78 injured across the five provinces targeted. Hossein Kermanpour, head of the Health Ministry’s public relations center, said 47 of the injured remain hospitalized.
What was hit
The strikes were the second and third waves of a campaign that began July 7, after Iran attacked three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM said it had struck more than 170 military sites over two days.
The July 9 targets included:
- Bandar Abbas: The main port city in southern Iran. Eight explosions were reported. A fishing pier was struck, with Iranian media reporting black smoke billowing behind the fish market and fishing boats set on fire.
- Chabahar: A strategic port on the Gulf of Oman. Strikes targeted a maritime traffic control tower and a depot. Shrapnel struck a hospital and damaged power lines. The Chabahar Free Zone began evacuating warehouses.
- Sirik: Multiple explosions in the fishing and commercial port. Iranian reports said enemy projectiles injured several people.
- Konarak, Jask, and Abu Musa Island: Explosions reported across all three locations.
- Iranshahr: The airport was struck. Trump confirmed the target, saying it was used in part by the IRGC Aerospace Force.
- Bushehr province: IRGC barracks were reportedly destroyed.
A US official told the Jerusalem Post that “everything depends on Iran’s response. If they continue firing, what happened last night could become a daily or even weekly occurrence.”
Sirens across the Gulf
As the strikes hit, missile alert sirens sounded across Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Jordan.
Bahrain’s Interior Ministry told citizens and residents to “remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.” Kuwait’s army announced it was “engaging hostile missile and drone attacks.” Kuwait’s foreign ministry condemned Iran’s retaliatory strikes as “repeated, illicit Iranian attacks that systematically undermine efforts to lower tensions.”
Iran’s IRGC claimed it had launched a joint missile and drone operation striking 85 US military installations, including the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait. The IRGC also claimed to have shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over Bushehr province.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X: “Leave our region if you want to be safe.”
A war without rules
The strikes near Bushehr are particularly dangerous because they test a line that both sides have treated as taboo. Hitting near a nuclear power plant, even accidentally, carries risks that go far beyond the Iran-US conflict. A direct hit on a reactor containment structure could release radioactive material across the Gulf.
Neither side has acknowledged crossing that line intentionally. Iran says the plant was not damaged. The US has not commented on the Bushehr strike specifically. But the fact that it happened at all shows how quickly the norms that limited the conflict over the past four months are collapsing.
Trump declared the ceasefire “over” on July 8 at the NATO summit in Ankara. The strikes since then have been larger, wider, and more destructive than anything that came before. Iran is responding by targeting US bases in neighboring countries, drawing Bahrain and Kuwait deeper into a conflict they have no way to control.
The ceasefire is dead. What comes next may be worse.