TEHRAN, June 10 (Xinhua) -- A number of explosions were heard early Wednesday and air defense were activated in the port city of Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island and Sirik County in southern Iran, state-run IRIB TV reported, citing local sources.
The explosions came as U.S. Central Command said in a post on social media platform X that its "forces began launching self-defense strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. ET today at the Commander in Chief's direction, in response to yesterday's downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter." ■
