Death toll from US strikes on Iran rises to 17

Seventeen people, including a woman, were killed in US strikes on Iran carried out on Wednesday and Thursday, the Iranian Health Ministry said Friday.

The attacks also wounded 115 others, including two women, Hossein Kermanpour, head of the ministry’s Public Relations and Information Center, said in a post on the US social media company X.

“As of today, 14 surgeries have been performed, (and) 102 of the wounded have been discharged after receiving treatment,” he wrote.

The latest casualty figures follow the recent military escalation between Tehran and Washington.

The escalation began after the US accused Iran of attacking three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and launched strikes on Iranian military targets along the country’s southern coast.

The US said it targeted military infrastructure to deter further attacks on international shipping, while Iran responded with drone and missile strikes on what it said were US military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait.

The two sides reached a Pakistan-brokered memorandum of understanding on June 17 to end the conflict and pave the way for a lasting peace agreement.