The Strait of Hormuz on a Knife Edge... Explosions Rock Iran and the Drums of War Beat Again

The pace of military escalation between the United States and Iran continued on Tuesday, with a series of explosions and strikes reported in several Iranian areas, amid signs that the confrontation may be widening and that military operations could resume at a greater intensity.

Iranian state media reported hearing five explosions near the Strait of Hormuz, around the coastal city of Bandar Abbas, an area that had already been subjected to U.S. strikes in recent days, without disclosing the nature of the targets or the extent of the damage.

In a parallel development, local authorities in the city of Bushehr announced that several sites had come under bombardment, including areas near Iran’s main nuclear power generation facility. The IRNA news agency quoted Bushehr Deputy Governor Ehsan Jahaniyan as saying that four locations in the city were hit by shells around midday.

U.S. strikes also targeted, according to Iranian authorities, an oil area in Khuzestan province in the country’s southwest near the border with Iraq, heightening fears that the confrontation could spread to vital and strategic sectors.