US strike targeted perimeter of Bushehr nuclear plant: Iran

The United States targeted the perimeter of Iran's only civilian nuclear plant with a strike on Thursday, Iranian state media reported, citing the deputy governor of Bushehr province.

"Several areas in Bushehr province were targeted today, including the perimeter of the nuclear power plant, a military base in the town of Choghadak and a fishing pier in the south of the province," Ehsan Jahanian said, adding there were no reports of casualties so far.

It came after residents of Choghadak, which sits a little more than 20 kilometres from the Bushehr plant, reported hearing several explosions.
Strikes have previously landed near the power station during the Middle East war.

The strikes came hours after US President Donald Trump said recent Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz signaled the end of a fragile ceasefire and threatened to escalate the conflict if they didn't stop. That raised concerns that the region could tip back into a war that would engulf several countries and could halt energy shipments through the strait that are crucial for the global economy.

In Iran, the two days of American airstrikes have killed at least 14 people and wounded another 78, Iran's Health Ministry said on Thursday — most of those reportedly members of the armed forces.

The US military's Central Command said it hit some 90 targets across Iran, releasing black-and-white footage of what appeared to be strikes on an airport runway and missile launchers.

The US said the strikes were intended to "further degrade" Iran's ability "to threaten freedom of navigation" in the strait, through which a fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas passed before the war began with US and Israeli attacks on Feb.28.

Attacks on ships — and the threat of them — virtually halted traffic in the waterway during the conflict, causing the price of oil to skyrocket and raising prices on many basic goods, including food, far beyond the region. Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations, including Bushehr, home to Iran's nuclear power plant complex, and southern port cities.

In Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province, at least three people were killed on Thursday, state media reported.

In Iranshahr, authorities said a strike killed a firefighter at an airport. Those fatalities followed the deaths of at least nine members of Iran's armed forces in Wednesday's strikes, according to state media. It wasn't clear when the other death happened and who was killed.

Agencies