Second day after the "end" of the ceasefire: U.S. military expands strike range, Iran's retaliation affects Qatar base, Trump talks while fighting

The US-Iran conflict entered its second day and quickly escalated after Trump announced the "termination" of the ceasefire agreement.

On July 9, according to Xinhua News Agency, the US Central Command posted on social media that it had completed another round of strikes on Iran, covering about 90 Iranian military targets, including air defense systems, coastal surveillance facilities, missile and drone storage facilities, as well as military logistics infrastructure in coastal areas of Iran.

According to another report from Xinhua News Agency, Iran's Islamic Republic of Broadcasting reported on the 9th that Iran's military public relations department issued a statement saying that recently, the Iranian military launched strikes using drones against multiple US military targets in the Middle East in response to US aggression. The statement said the Iranian military used a large number of various types of attack drones to strike the US "Patriot" air defense system in Kuwait, the US satellite antennas in Qatar, and the US fuel storage facilities in Bahrain.

Earlier, Trump sent conflicting signals during the NATO summit. According to Xinhua News Agency, US President Trump said at the NATO summit on the 8th that he believes the US-Iran memorandum of understanding "has been terminated". Subsequently, Trump said in Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday that the current escalation between the US and Iran would calm down soon and he does not expect a new war with Iran will break out.

The scenario of "fighting while negotiating" makes the outlook of the conflict unpredictable, and international oil prices fluctuate violently. Brent oil briefly broke the $80 mark but quickly retraced, key strait oil shipments were nearly stalled, and the global energy market faces new uncertainties again.

Second round of airstrikes escalates, US strikes Iran's Bushehr region

The second round of US airstrikes saw clear escalation in both scale and target selection. The US Central Command posted on social media that the US had carried out more strikes on Iran to further weaken Iran's capability to threaten navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

According to Xinhua News Agency citing Iran's Mehr News Agency, the US military also struck Iran's Bushehr region late at night on the 8th, but did not cause any damage to the nuclear power plant there. Mehr News Agency cited Iranian health ministry officials on the 9th reporting that US attacks on Iran from the 7th to the 8th caused 14 deaths and 78 injuries.

Previously, according to CCTV International News, Trump said the US has not yet struck Iran's bridges, power facilities, and desalination plants, but if necessary, the US would destroy them. Trump said the US military struck Iran's key oil export hub Khark Island the previous night, but he asked not to target the pipelines because the US "might take over Khark Island."

Iran's retaliation expands further, Gulf countries enter full alert

Iran's retaliatory actions also broke the previous geographical boundaries of the conflict, with confrontations spilling over further.

According to Xinhua News Agency, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement on the 9th saying that Iran struck several US military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain in response to US violation of its commitments and warned that if US aggression repeats, the scope of retaliation will expand to other US bases in the Middle East.

Iranian parliament speaker Kalibaf posted on social media on the 9th, saying the US has still not understood that bullying and betrayal are no longer "zero cost." The Strait of Hormuz can only be open "under Iran's arrangements, not under US threats." He wrote: "If you dare to strike, I will retaliate."

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s military announced the activation of its air defense system to counter hostile missiles and drone attacks. According to Xinhua, Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior said on the 9th that Bahrain sounded air defense alerts twice that day. Qatar’s Ministry of Interior also posted a statement on social media saying that alarms were sounded in the country. Kuwait’s military issued a statement saying its air defense system was intercepting “hostile” aerial targets.

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