Shafaq News- Tehran

An American strike on Hormozgan province in southern Iran killed three civilians before dawn on Tuesday, Iran's Fars news agency reported.

Hormozgan lies on Iran's southern coast facing the Strait of Hormuz, and Bandar Abbas, the province’s capital, was among the sites the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it struck in a five-hour operation completed at 10:15 p.m. Eastern Time on July 13, or 5:45 a.m. Tuesday in Tehran.

Iranian state television also reported five fresh explosions west of Bandar Abbas, while the deputy governor of Bushehr province said four locations in the southern Iranian city were bombarded.

A US official told the Washington Post that the United States has deployed 19 warships across the Middle East, including the aircraft carriers USS Abraham Lincoln and USS George H.W. Bush, 13 destroyers, an amphibious assault ship, a cruiser, and two landing ships, giving it, according to the official, substantial firepower to enforce the naval blockade imposed on Iran.