US strikes on five Iranian provinces over the past two days killed at least 14 people and injured 78 others, the Iranian health ministry said on Thursday.
“The United States targeted five provinces of Iran with attacks on July 8 and 9,” Hossein Kermanpour, head of the ministry's Public Relations and Information Centre, wrote in a post on X.
He said the strikes had so far resulted in 14 deaths and 78 injuries.
According to the ministry, 47 of the injured remain hospitalised, while the remaining victims have been discharged after receiving medical treatment.
Three of the victims were killed in a strike near the southwestern city of Ahvaz, according to Iran's state news agency IRNA, which cited Valiollah Hayati, Khuzestan province's deputy governor for security affairs.
US Central Command said the operations targeted more than 170 military sites over two days, including air defence systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone infrastructure, naval capabilities and facilities belonging to the Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, saying the strikes were intended to deter further attacks on international shipping.
Iran suspends Tehran-Mashhad rail service after US-Israeli strike
Iran also suspended passenger rail services between Tehran and Mashhad on Thursday after a US-Israeli attack on a section of the railway line.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Railways said passenger train operations on the Tehran-Mashhad route were halted after the attack struck a section of the line earlier Thursday, state broadcaster IRIB reported.
Railway authorities said technical and operational teams were immediately dispatched to the site, and reconstruction work was underway to restore the damaged section as quickly as possible.
Passengers stranded by the disruption will be transported by road to the northeastern city of Mashhad, the report said.
Earlier on Thursday, Mehr News Agency reported that the Aq Tekeh Khan Bridge in the northern Golestan province had been struck by a projectile.
A US official told Axios that the American military targeted two railway bridges in northern Iran with cruise missiles as part of Wednesday's strikes.
The attack marked the first reported US strike on Iranian transportation infrastructure since the ceasefire took effect on April 8.
The latest casualty figures come amid renewed hostilities between the US and Iran following the collapse of a fragile ceasefire reached last month.
The escalation began after the US accused Iran of attacking three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Washington to launch successive waves of strikes on Iranian military targets along Iran's southern coast.
Iran has responded with drone and missile attacks targeting what it says are US military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait.
Iran and the US reached a Pakistan-brokered memorandum of understanding on June 17 aimed at ending their military conflict and paving the way for a lasting peace agreement.
However, on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump declared that the memorandum was "over," effectively ending the agreement and triggering a new round of military confrontation.
