Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it carried out a series of attacks against American and Israeli targets in recent hours, including what it described as a missile strike on the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, according to statements reported by Lebanese outlet Al Mayadeen.
In a statement issued as part of what it called Operation True Promise 4, the Revolutionary Guard said it fired four cruise missiles at the carrier. The group claimed the vessel subsequently withdrew from its mission area and headed toward the southeastern Indian Ocean. There has been no immediate confirmation of these claims from US officials.
The announcement came after Iran vowed retaliation for large-scale US and Israeli strikes on its territory that Iranian media said killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several senior commanders. Tehran has since launched multiple waves of missiles and drones targeting US military positions and Israeli sites, according to Iranian statements.
Iranian forces also struck and disabled a US support vessel off the coast of Chabahar using drones and missiles. Additionally, the Revolutionary Guard asserted it had completely destroyed a THAAD radar linked to Israel’s missile defense network, though this too remains unverified by independent sources.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard said its air defense units shot down two additional Israeli Hermes drones over the cities of Tabriz and Khorramabad using what it described as an advanced aerospace defense system. It added that the total number of downed drones had reached 17 Hermes aircraft along with one MQ-9 drone.
Claims of casualties and regional strikes
According to the statement, multiple waves of missiles and drones targeted numerous American sites and interests across the region, allegedly causing about 560 US military casualties. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard said the seventh and eighth waves of the operation focused on both American and Israeli targets.
Iran further claimed that a US military base in Kuwait was rendered inoperable following the strikes and that three maritime infrastructure facilities at Mohammed Al-Ahmad base in Kuwait were destroyed.
In Bahrain, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard said the naval base at Mina Salman port sustained hits from four drones, causing what it described as major damage to command and support centers. It also claimed that a residence housing US military personnel in Bahrain was struck by two ballistic missiles.
According to Al Mayadeen, three oil tankers linked to the United States and Britain were also hit by missiles in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, sparking fires aboard the vessels.
Many of the Iranian claims have not been independently verified, and US officials have denied any damage to the aircraft carrier or several of the other reported targets.
