Washington expands its raids into central Iran as Trump considers plan to storm "Kharj"

The direct war between the United States of America and Iran entered a new phase of comprehensive escalation on its eighth day, today, Sunday, July 19, as US fighter jets and naval units expanded the scope of their airstrikes to extend from the southern provinces of Iran to deep in the center in the provinces of Fars and Yazd, in conjunction with US President Donald Trump's consideration of plans to launch a large-scale attack targeting Tehran's nuclear facilities and vital infrastructure, amid Iranian missile responses that hit military facilities and bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

According to  US military and field sources, the  heavy US bombardment targeted a fortified facility in the mountains known as the "Missile City" in the city of Yazd at a depth of 500 meters underground, resulting in the sound of huge explosions, as well as a missile base belonging to the Revolutionary Guards in the city of Lar in Fars province, and sites around Ahvaz, Sirik, Bushehr and Qeshm.

According to Iranian sources, the shelling of Hormozgan province resulted in  the death of 3 people and the wounding of 8, and the destruction of the "Bunji" water desalination plant in Jask, which cut off supplies to 20 villages, in addition to the failure of 116 telecommunication towers.

Following the deterioration of security, Iran's Ministry of Education announced the cancellation and postponement of final exams in southern provinces.

According to CNN and Axios, President Trump was briefed in the operations room on military options for expanding the range, including bombing Iran's hidden underground nuclear complexes to push enriched uranium deeper into the country, bombing the Jabal al-Fass nuclear site under construction, targeting power plants, and carrying out a military operation to take control of the strategic Kharj Island, in order to force the Iranian regime to open the Strait of Hormuz and retreat nuclearly.

Tehran vows all-out attack

In return, the military adviser to the Iranian leader, Mohsen Rezaei, vowed that his country would enter the "phase of a full-scale attack" and a violent cross-border response if the US strikes continued for more than two days.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has threatened to destroy the industrial and technical assets of companies in which the United States has stakes in the region if bridges and infrastructure are targeted.

In terms of navigation, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that it had imposed full control over the Strait of Hormuz, revealing that two ships were involved in an accident and two were retreated after they disrupted navigation systems and tried to cross with US support through an unsafe route.

The IRGC stressed that no drop of oil, gas or chemical fertilizer will be allowed to pass through the strait without prior authorization from Tehran, warning that ships that obey US directives will be subject to direct targeting.

Ballistic bursts hit Gulf  states, Jordan

The Iranian responses extended to a number of vital centers in the Gulf and the region, as the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation announced that one of the vital oil sites was subjected to repeated Iranian attacks that caused serious material losses and injuries among workers.

Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity and Water confirmed that a large fire broke out at a second power and water distillation plant following Iranian shelling, prompting crews to disconnect the generating units as a precautionary measure to protect the electrical system, and the General Fire Department took over the evacuation of the damaged sites.

In Bahrain, the IRGC has targeted Sheikh Isa Air Base and a number of bridges with ballistic missiles, as well as destroying the main artificial intelligence center used by Washington to identify its targets in the kingdom.

The General Command of the Bahrain Defense Force announced that its air defenses repelled a number of systematic attacks targeting civilians, stressing that the forces are raising the readiness of the forces to protect the country from fragments and remnants of the bombardment.

In Jordan, the IRGC announced that it had targeted "a warplane hangar and a US settlement site" at the Azraq base with missiles and drones.

The Jordanian Armed Forces stated that air defenses intercepted and shot down 10 Iranian missiles that violated the Kingdom's airspace without causing any casualties, while the US Embassy in Jordan issued a stern warning to its nationals to refrain from heading to the airport and port of Aqaba.

Khamenei: Trump's signing of the memorandum is worthless

Politically, Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Massoud Bazshkian stressed in internal messages that Washington's reneging on its promises proved the worthlessness of Trump's signature, calling for the preservation of internal unity as the secret of victory at this crucial moment, while the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced the dissolution of its unilateral commitments as a result of US violations.

U.S.-Israeli Alert

In terms of US casualties, the Associated Press quoted the Pentagon as saying that the death toll of US soldiers has risen to 16 and more than 430 others have been wounded since the outbreak of the military confrontation at the end of last February, including two soldiers who were killed and a third went missing in Jordan during the response to the latest attack.

President Trump commented on the incident, calling the soldiers' deaths "sad and regrettable," but calling it a necessary price to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and protecting the Middle East.

In preparation for expanding the scope of military operations against Tehran, US and Israeli officials revealed that the Trump administration has asked the Israeli government to make the necessary arrangements to accommodate dozens of additional military aircraft dedicated to air refueling (tankers), to be sent in the coming days to Ben Gurion and Ramon airports, where Washington currently has about 60 refueling planes.

According to Axios, the final decision to implement the joint air plans is in the hands of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to set the course for an all-out war.