Iran and U.S. ramp up tit-for-tat strikes ahead of Ali Khamenei’s burial

Major General Abdolrahim Abdollahi, commander of the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, vowed that those responsible for the killing of Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would face retribution.

In a statement issued following Khamenei’s funeral service in the city of Mashad, Abdollahi praised the large turnout at ceremonies held across Iran and Iraq over the last week, describing them as a historic demonstration of “grandeur, insight, faith, jihad and resistance.”

He warned the United States and Israel not to “mistake the grief in the eyes of the nation and the outcry born of this sorrow for weakness. This sacred grief and anger will continue on the path of avenging the killers of the martyred leader.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard naval forces said Thursday that any U.S. “interference in determining shipping routes” through the Strait of Hormuz would draw a “forceful response” and “seriously disrupt the process of gradual reopening” of the vital waterway.

The IRGC Navy said U.S. military “adventurism” would “place the interests of countries using the Strait of Hormuz at serious risk.”

Iran agreed in the memorandum of understanding signed with the U.S. in mid-June to “make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days” through the strait. 

Soon after, however, Iran attempted to maintain control over the shipping lanes, demanding that all vessels coordinate with its authorities and use a northern route through the strait, passing very close to its coast. Early this week, Iran attacked three vessels attempting to transit the strait via a southern route close to Oman — a route that Tehran considers a violation the MoU.

The IRGC Navy said Thursday that its forces, “by consolidating control over the Strait of Hormuz and ensuring its security over the past two weeks, and through its gradual reopening, have brought the capacity for maritime traffic to around 50% of pre-war levels.”

“They are currently increasing the capacity for vessels to transit, with ships receiving authorization from the IRGC Navy after complying with security regulations and using routes designated by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the statement said.

Only three fuel tankers — two of which are under U.S. sanctions over ties to Iran’s illicit fuel shipments —  appeared to be making their way through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday as the U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes and after Tehran threatened to completely close the key waterway.

The liquified petroleum gas tanker Solix and crude oil tanker Berg 1 are both under U.S. sanctions. Public data reported by the MarineTraffic.com website showed both vessels in the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday morning. A third vessel, which is not sanctioned but has exhibited suspicious behavior consistent with ship-to-ship fuel transfers since the start of the conflict, was also broadcasting its location in the strait. 

The Benin-flagged Berg 1 and the third vessel, an oil-chemical tanker operating under the Marshall Islands flag, were both heading out of the Persian Gulf loaded with cargo along the northern route that Iran has demanded all commercial vessels use, while the Equatorial Guinea-flagged Solix was tracked heading west into the Persian Gulf after leaving a port in China.

While only those three tankers were visible, it is possible that other ships could be trying to use a southern route through the narrow strait, close to Oman’s coast, with their location transponders switched off. Iran has attacked three vessels this week trying to use that route.

On Monday, the head of the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization said approximately 600 seafarers remained trapped in the Persian Gulf and surrounding waters as U.S.-Iran hostilities renewed.

The funeral procession for Iran’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei began Thursday on Imam Reza Street in the northeast city of Mashhad, with huge crowds gathered to bid a final farewell as his coffin was carried toward the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza for burial.

State media aired video of crowds lining the street, thronging around a truck carrying Khamenei’s coffin.

Organizers said that, due to the shrine reaching full capacity, worshippers and attendees would be able to follow the funeral prayer from outside the building on several adjoining streets.

The head of the shrine’s information and media department said after the funeral procession and prayer, Khamenei’s body, along with those of several family members killed in the same strike as the ayatollah on the first day of the war, would be moved to the inner area of the shrine where the burial ceremony would take place in the presence of Khamenei’s surviving family.

Jordan’s Armed Forces said Thursday that eight “missiles launched from Iran toward Jordanian territory” were intercepted, with debris falling to the ground but no casualties or material damage reported.

“We remain at the highest level of readiness to protect Jordanian airspace and defend the Kingdom’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the military said in its statement.

The statement came about 40 minutes after the U.S. Embassy in Amman warned people in the Jordanian capital to immediately seek shelter due to the threat of incoming weapons.

The U.S. Embassy in Amman warned people in the Jordanian capital to seek cover Thursday “and shelter in place immediately” due to reports of incoming missiles, drones, or rockets in the country’s airspace.

The warning, shared on social media, came after Iran said it had targeted U.S. bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar on Wednesday amid an escalating exchange attacks.  

Jordanian government spokesman Dr. Mahammad al-Momeni said in a brief statement posted on X that the country’s security forces had “activated air raid sirens moments ago after the Kingdom’s airspace was breached by missiles launched from Iran, which were intercepted and dealt with.”

The perimeter area of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant was hit by a U.S. projectile on Thursday, according to Iran’s IRNA state news agency, citing a deputy governor of Bushehr Province.

Ehsan Jahangirian told IRNA that continuing U.S. attacks had hit several locations in Bushehr Province, including the area surrounding the nuclear plant, the Choghaddak military base and a fishing pier in the south of the coastal province.

He said no casualties had been reported so far from the strikes in the area, but Iran’s health ministry earlier said a total of 14 people had been killed in two days of U.S. strikes across the south of the country.

Jahangirian said the Benoud fishing pier in Asaluyeh, Bushehr Province, was targeted, resulting in fishing boats belonging to local residents catching fire. He said emergency response teams were at the affected sites and operations were underway to assess the extent of the damage and to secure targeted areas.

President Trump has said U.S. strikes would target small boats used by Iranian forces to lay sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters. The U.S. military’s Central Command said Wednesday evening that the latest attacks had hit about 90 Iranian targets, including air defenses, drone and missile storage, naval targets and logistics infrastructure on Iran’s coast. 

A plane carrying the coffin of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei landed in the eastern holy city of Mashhad on Thursday, ahead of his burial, state media reported.

Official news agency IRNA aired video of the Mahan Air flight taxiing at the airport after landing in Khamenei’s home city. He was transferred from Iraq, where ceremonies took place in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

Video aired by state media, which could not be independently verified by CBS News, showed the plane being escorted by at least one Iranian fighter jet.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said Thursday that U.S. strikes overnight had hit two bridges on the route to Mashhad. 

Khamenei was killed by U.S. or Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, the first day of the war. The week-long funeral period, culminating with Khamenei’s burial on Thursday, was supposed to be a period of reduced tension and negotiations. 

U.S. airstrikes in Iran over the last two days have killed at least 14 people and wounded another 78, Iran’s Health Ministry said Thursday.

Hossein Kermanpour, a Health Ministry spokesperson, reported the toll on social media. They were the first overall casualty figures from the strikes issued by the Iranian government.

In Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province, at least three people were killed Thursday, state media reported. In Iranshahr, authorities said a strike also had killed a firefighter at an airport.

Those fatalities followed at least nine members of Iran’s armed forces being killed in Wednesday’s strikes in Iran. It wasn’t clear when the other fatality happened and who was killed.

President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that Iran “called a little while ago,” alleging that Tehran’s regime wants “to make a deal so badly.”

Mr. Trump, on his way back to the U.S. after attending the NATO summit in Turkey, said he doesn’t know if Iran is “worthy of making a deal. I don’t know if they’ll honor a deal.”

When a reporter followed up by asking Mr. Trump why Iran launched attacks on three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, the president responded, “Because they’re sort of crazy, to be honest with you. They’re sort of crazy. They’re a little bit out of control. But they want to make a deal, badly.”

Earlier Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he believed the 60-day ceasefire reached with Iran in mid-June was “over,” but that he would allow peace talks to continue.

Since Iran’s attacks on the tankers, the U.S. has launched two rounds of retaliatory strikes on the country, which the Pentagon says have targeted its military infrastructure.

President Trump called Wednesday’s strikes on Iran “retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran,” referring to three commercial oil tankers that were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and Tuesday.

“If it happens again, it will get much worse!” the president warned in a Truth Social post.

Mr. Trump also posted several undated videos of nighttime explosions. 

Iranian state television reported explosions in several cities after the U.S. announced that it had launched a second night of strikes on Iran.

The semi-official Fars News Agency, which is associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, said that explosions were reported in the southern port cities of Chabahar and Konarak, as well as the western Gulf port city of Bushehr. 

Bushehr is a key city because it contains Iran’s only commercial nuclear power plant. It is also located near  Kharg Island, a pivotal Iranian oil export hub.  

Vice President JD Vance echoed many of the points made throughout the day by President Trump as he spoke in Milwaukee, saying since Iran attacked commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. had no choice but to respond militarily.

“They were well behaved for about a week. But then they started shooting at ships,” Vance said. “So the deal is very simple, if they shoot at ships, we’re going to knock the hell out of them. And it’s that simple.”

Vance, who was involved in the negotiations to end the conflict with Iran during the 60-day pause outlined in the memorandum of understanding signed by the U.S. and Iran last month, repeatedly posed the choice as a simple one.

“If they try to close it down, there’s going to be a response from the American military. It’s that simple. That’s the deal,” said Vance, who was in Wisconsin for an event focused on stopping fraud. “They can either follow it or they can have exactly what happened to them last night.”

He continued, “It’s just going to keep on happening until they open up that lane and stop shooting at ships. It’s simple.”