Iran accuses US of striking Bushehr nuclear plant perimeter

Iran’s state‑run IRNA agency reported on Thursday that a U.S. Airstrike hit the perimeter of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant – a site that houses an active reactor and a naval base – reigniting fears that the fragile ceasefire governing the Gulf’s vital shipping lanes could collapse.

The allegation arrives just hours after the United States’ Central Command said its forces struck “approximately 90 Iranian military targets including air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities, and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline.” The claim that the Bushehr perimeter was hit diverges from the Pentagon’s public denial, creating a new flashpoint in a conflict that already threatens the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokpoint that moves roughly a fifth of the world’s traded oil.

Media additions

How the accusations unfolded

• July 8 2026 – U.S. Strikes. CENTCOM released footage of raids on an airport runway and missile sites, saying the attacks were meant to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten freedom of navigation” in the strait.
• July 8 2026 – Iranian response. IRNA quoted local official Ehsan Jahanian stating the strike hit “around the Bushehr nuclear power plant” at noon, hours after CENTCOM said the operation had ended.
• July 9 2026 – Tehran’s broader retaliation. Iran launched missiles at U.S.‑aligned bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan, prompting sirens in Bahrain’s 5th Fleet headquarters and Jordan’s air defence network.
• July 9 2026 – U.S. Casualty‑free claim. A Pentagon spokesperson told NBC News that no U.S. Facilities were hit, though debris caused minor damage to a non‑U.S. Building near the U.S. Navy headquarters in Bahrain.

Official statements on both sides

Iranian officials framed the strike as a breach of the interim ceasefire signed in mid‑June. The governor of Bushehr told IRNA that “the explosions were heard in Bushehr and Choghadak and that their source is still under investigation,” adding that “whether the sound heard was from the defence of the armed forces, an enemy projectile hitting the areas, or an enemy drone being targeted is still under investigation.”

The U.S. Side rejected the allegation. A Pentagon official told NBC News that the military “had not carried out any further strikes on Thursday,” and that the July 8 operation targeted only Iranian military infrastructure.

"We just hit him very hard. Every time they hit us we're going to hit them 20 to one."

Donald Trump, US President, via Mirror

Trump, speaking from Air Force One, warned that the United States would “hit him very hard” and hinted at a broader campaign against Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including electric and desalination plants and Kharg Island, through which the bulk of Iranian oil exports pass.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a key negotiator, answered on X: “America still hasn't learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost‑free. Let me put it plainly: If you strike, you'll get hit.”

Meanwhile, International Crisis Group analyst Ali Vaez told NBC News that “His pessimism in not getting a final agreement, I think, is well placed, but that doesn’t mean that, you know, the no war