Friday 31 / July / 2026
Tehran: Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Thursday strongly condemned a reported strike on residential areas on Qeshm Island, labelling it a terrorist attack and accusing the United States of deliberately targeting civilians.
In a post on X, Ghalibaf asserted that the incident follows a pattern of similar atrocities in Minab and Lamerd. Slamming US for "spilling the blood of the innocent," the diplomat vowed stern retaliation from Iran.
"The United States soils its hands with a new crime every day; the terrorist attack on the residential homes of civilians on Qeshm Island is a continuation of the atrocities in Minab and Lamerd. Americans have grown accustomed to making up for the slaps they receive on the battlefield by spilling the blood of the innocent. They will pay the price," he wrote in a post on X.
His remarks stem from US Central Command (CENTCOM) claiming to have carried out a "heavy wave of strikes" against dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran on Wednesday, calling the action a response to attempted Iranian missile strikes on US forces in West Asia.
The strikes, completed at 10 p.m. ET on July 29, targeted IRGC military command centres, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defence sites, and maritime capabilities, according to a CENTCOM press release.
The US military further stated that on July 28, Iranian forces launched multiple ballistic missiles in an attempted surprise attack on US personnel stationed in the Middle East, adding that all of the missiles were successfully intercepted.
CENTCOM also said that more than 50,000 US service members remain deployed across the Middle East and are "highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready."
The broader regional hostilities intensified significantly, with Tehran claiming that it had destroyed three US F-35 fighter jets and heavily damaged three others at Jordan's Al-Azraq Air Base on Thursday in retaliation for American attacks on Qeshm Island.
According to a statement by the state media, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched several ballistic missiles at the deployment ramp and maintenance facilities housing US F-35 fighter aircraft at Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan.
The IRGC claimed the strike "completely destroyed three F-35 aircraft and caused heavy damage to three others," adding that several US officers and technical and maintenance personnel were also killed in the attack.
According to the statement, the operation was carried out in response to a US airstrike on Qeshm Island on Wednesday night.
The IRGC alleged that American forces, operating from bases in Jordan, targeted two residential houses with bunker-busting bombs, killing three of a family, including a child, while injuring two other children.
