The US military said it had hit 16 Iranian minelaying vessels "near the Strait of Hormuz", after President Donald Trump earlier threatened Tehran with military consequences if it decided to mine the vital oil and gas shipping corridor, the agencies reported.
"US forces destroyed several Iranian vessels, including 16 minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz on March 10," the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
Earlier, Trump warned Tehran that a serious military response would follow if reports that the Islamic Republic had begun mining the Strait of Hormuz were confirmed.
"If mines are laid for any reason and they "If they are not removed immediately, the military consequences for Iran will be unprecedented," the American leader wrote on his social network Truth Social.
The Republican president added that there is currently no independent confirmation that the sea corridor has been mined.
According to CNN, Iran has laid about a dozen mines in the waters of the strategically important strait in recent days. The television station cited unnamed sources.
According to one of them, Iran's fleet of small vessels and mine-sweeping vessels is still largely intact, and in this situation it is able to lay hundreds of mines along the shipping route.
"CBS News" also reported that Tehran plans to lay mines.
In another post, Trump wrote that in the last few hours 10 ships capable of laying mines had been sunk.
The approximately 55-kilometer-wide Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and Oman, is one of the most important shipping routes for global oil supplies.
Experts warned even before the war that Tehran's naval forces could block or mine the sea corridor.
The Israeli army reported that it had detected a new missile salvo fired from Iranian territory towards Israel. Air defense systems have been activated, the agencies reported.
"The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) detected a missile launch from Iran towards Israel. Air defense systems are ready to repel the threat," the IDF said on Telegram.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it had launched missiles at US bases in the region, including the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.
The Israeli military said it had launched a "wave of strikes" in Tehran, shortly after new explosions were heard in the Iranian capital, Agence France-Presse reported.
"The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a new wave of strikes on targets of the terrorist Iranian regime in Tehran," the IDF said on its official Telegram account.
Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had attacked US bases in Bahrain and Iraqi Kurdistan, Iranian media reported.
According to a statement released by the Iranian Tasnim news agency, the Guards said they had fired a large number of missiles at the US Navy's Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain and three sites in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The Russian consulate in the Iranian city of Isfahan was hit by shelling a few days ago, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, quoted by Reuters.
The attack on a diplomatic mission is a "gross violation" of international conventions and every country is obliged to respect the inviolability of diplomatic facilities, she said.
"On March 8, in the Iranian city of Isfahan, during an attack on the governorate of the province of the same name, which is located next door, the Russian consulate was damaged", Zakharova said on her ministry's website. "Windows in the office building and in the residential apartments attached to it were broken, and several employees were thrown out by the blast wave. Fortunately, there were no casualties or serious injuries."
Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the conflict with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian, the Kremlin announced. The Kremlin official called for a cessation of hostilities.