Explosions were reported across southern Iran on Thursday (July 9), including in areas close to the Bushehr nuclear facility, according to Iranian media. Despite the incidents, the United States said it was not involved in any strikes on Iranian territory, while Tehran has not publicly accused any country of carrying out the attack.
Citing Iranian state media, AFP reported that a US-Israeli projectile struck a military headquarters on the outskirts of Bushehr, the location of Iran's only civilian nuclear power plant.
"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, Deputy Governor of Bushehr province said.
The official said no fatalities had been reported.
Iran's Mehr News Agency also reported that three additional explosions were heard in the southern city of Konarak.
A US official told Al Jazeera that American forces were not responsible for the latest attack.
Meanwhile, Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz warned on Thursday that Israel was prepared to restart military operations against Iran "with even greater force."
"The army is ready and on alert for a resumption of fighting, in order to regain air superiority and strike again... in Iran, to eliminate threats, including a third time if necessary," Katz said at a military ceremony.
"If we have to go back, we will go back, with even greater force," he added.
Reports of the new explosions emerged only hours after Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was laid to rest at the Shrine of Imam Reza, the country's holiest shrine, early on Friday.
Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, the United States carried out what it described as a "series of powerful strikes" on Iran in retaliation for Tehran's attack on three commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command announced the operation in a post on X, saying the strikes were intended to "impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping."
"The US strikes are in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire," the statement read.
According to an Axios report, the operation targeted Iranian air-defense systems, coastal surveillance systems, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship cruise missile sites, drone launch sites and port facilities.
A US official said the latest American operation was "four or five times bigger in scope and power" than the strikes carried out in the Strait of Hormuz 10 days earlier.
The United States and Iran have continued exchanging attacks since then. In the aftermath, Trump declared that the interim memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iran had come to an end.
"For me, I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore," Trump responded when asked about the status of the ceasefire. "It's just a waste of time dealing with them."
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