Iran says 18 killed and 108 wounded in latest US strikes as Tehran launches retaliatory attacks across region

Iran has said that at least 18 people were killed and 108 others wounded in overnight US strikes as the latest escalation between Washington and Tehran triggered retaliatory attacks across several countries in the regionIranian Health Minister MohammadReza Zafarghandi announced the casualty figures in a statement published on the website of the Iranian presidents office The statement did not provide further details about the locations of the deaths and injuriesIran condemns US strikes as violation of sovereigntyIn a separate statement Irans Foreign Ministry strongly condemned what it described as the latest US acts of aggression against the countryThe ministry accused Washington of violating Irans national sovereignty and territorial integrity and said the attacks had targeted several civilian locations and service infrastructureAccording to the statement the strikes killed and wounded Iranian citizens and caused damage to public and private propertyIran also reiterated its determination to decisively defend its independence national sovereignty and territorial integrity reports Xinhua news agencyUS says strikes targeted Iranian military positionsEarlier on Wednesday US Central Command said in a post on X that its forces had successfully completed a wave of strikes against Iranian military targetsThe command said the military action followed what it described as recent attempted attacks by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service membersThe latest military action came amid heightened tensions around the Strait of Hormuz a strategically important shipping route and followed reports of an earlier US strike that Iranian authorities said hit a wedding ceremony in Sirik in southern IranIran launches attacks on US bases and assetsIran responded to the latest US strikes by launching attacks on American bases and assets in Jordan Kuwait Bahrain Iraqs semiautonomous Kurdistan region and the United Arab EmiratesIn one of the reported operations the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps IRGC said it had hit the living quarters and command post of the American commander at the US Ali AlSalem base in KuwaitThe IRGC said the attack was part of its operation against the base and demonstrated what it described as its extensive intelligence regarding US military movements across the region according to Irans semiofficial Tasnim News AgencyIRGC claims attacks in Jordan and IraqThe IRGC also said it carried out a ballistic missile attack on Camp Tition described as a US Marines base on the Gulf of Aqaba in JordanThe attack was carried out in retaliation for what Iran described as the US strike on a wedding ceremony in Sirik Irans official Islamic Republic News Agency IRNA reportedAccording to the IRGC the operation destroyed several facilities and helicopters and caused heavy casualties among American forces The claims could not be independently verifiedIn Iraqs Erbil region the IRGC said it destroyed a US surveillance balloon control system in retaliation for deaths caused by the alleged American strike on the wedding ceremonyThe IRGC further claimed that its Ground Forces struck US bases in Erbil destroying a maintenance centre and warehouses containing technical equipment according to IRNAIt also said several US personnel were killed and fuel storage facilities were set ablazeWith inputs from IANS