The United States launched a new wave of air and missile strikes on targets inside Iran on Tuesday, escalating direct confrontation between Washington and Tehran after more than a month of relative calm.
Iran announced that it had begun retaliatory attacks targeting US bases and interests in the region, amid mutual warnings that the conflict could widen and threats to tighten restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
A US official said American forces carried out the strikes on targets inside Iran using missiles launched by the Navy and fighter jets operating from military bases and warships.
The US military later announced that it had completed a wave of strikes targeting sites belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including air defense systems and radars, as well as maritime facilities and assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites.
The US military said the strikes followed recent attempts by the IRGC to attack commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and target US military personnel. It said more than 50,000 US service members are currently deployed across the Middle East and remain ready to conduct military operations.
The strikes followed a new escalation that began earlier this week, when two oil tankers came under attack while leaving the Strait of Hormuz. The strategic waterway has become a focal point of the confrontation because of its critical importance to global trade and energy supplies.
Amid the military escalation, oil prices jumped by more than $4 a barrel to their highest level in five weeks, as concerns grew over disruptions to shipping through the strait, which carries a significant share of global oil supplies.
Trump: Any Iranian Response Will Draw Stronger Strike
In Washington, US President Donald Trump defended the strikes, saying they were carried out in response to Iranian attempts to lay naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as Iranian missile attacks targeting a US military base.
Trump warned Tehran against retaliating, saying any Iranian attack would be met with a “much tougher and much stronger” US strike. He added that a larger attack was “waiting on the horizon,” warning that Iran could suffer heavy losses if it continued escalating.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump played down the prospects of reaching a new agreement to halt the fighting, saying the previous agreement between Washington and Tehran was “not worth the paper it was written on” and insisting that the United States had given Iran numerous opportunities.
Trump’s position came as Tehran had called for a return to diplomacy. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran was prepared to resume its commitments if the United States returned to implementing what had been agreed, highlighting the widening gap between diplomatic efforts and military escalation.
Tehran Announces Retaliatory Operations
Iran, meanwhile, announced retaliatory attacks against US targets in the region. The Tasnim news agency said the Iranian armed forces had launched a “decisive operation” in response to the US strikes, while Fars described the attacks as a “retaliatory operation.”
The IRGC said it had targeted US bases in Erbil with missiles and drones, claiming to have destroyed a maintenance center, technical equipment warehouses and a US military surveillance-balloon guidance system. It declared that “the time has come to end the dominance of the US regime.”
In a parallel development, the IRGC said it had targeted US forces with ballistic missiles, while Iranian media reported that the attack included a US Marine Corps base.
US officials told Reuters, however, that no US personnel had been injured in the attacks on the facilities, stressing that assessments remained preliminary and could change as the attacks continued.
The attacks on countries in the region reflect a shift from direct exchanges between Washington and Tehran toward targeting positions linked to US forces in regional states, raising the risk of a wider regional conflict.
US Strikes Kill and Injure People in Hormozgan
On the Iranian side, official and semi-official sources reported deaths and injuries resulting from US strikes, most notably an attack that hit a house in the city of Kuhestak in Hormozgan province during a wedding celebration.
The Iranian Red Crescent said five people were killed and 50 injured, while Mehr News Agency reported that a four-year-old child was among those killed. IRNA quoted a local official as saying the number of injured had reached 68.
In another account, the Red Crescent reported that four people, including a child, were killed and more than 50 injured, saying shrapnel from a US missile struck the house where the wedding was being held.
There was no immediate US response to the reports.
Iranian officials said the attack would not go unpunished, while a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security Committee described the strike as evidence of what he called the “US enemy’s plan to retaliate against the Iranian people,” warning that the United States “will regret it.”
Iran’s Health Ministry spokesperson also reported deaths and injuries, including a child, in Kuhestak as a result of the US attacks.
Communications and Power Damage Reported in Southern Iran
Iranian media also reported strikes and explosions in several southern and southeastern areas, including Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Chabahar and Asaluyeh, as well as areas around Ahvaz and Jiroft Airport in Kerman province.
Iranian television reported explosions on Qeshm Island, north of the Strait of Hormuz, while media reports said a US strike targeted Jiroft’s civilian airport.
The governor of Asaluyeh said a US strike hit a military facility in the area without causing injuries.
In Hormozgan, the telecommunications directorate said the attacks damaged several communications and internet towers and sites, adding that emergency teams had begun repairs and efforts to restore network connectivity.
The head of Iran’s electricity company also said several points on the province’s power grid had been targeted and that repair teams had begun addressing the damage.
Fars, citing a security official in Khuzestan province, reported that a site near Ahvaz had been targeted by a US missile.
In Tehran, Tasnim reported that residents in the eastern part of the capital heard explosions and said air defense systems had been activated, although there was no official confirmation of the reports.
Iran’s civil aviation spokesperson, meanwhile, denied that any official notice had been issued to close the country’s airspace.
IRGC Threatens Further Escalation
As the attacks widened, the IRGC raised the level of its threats, warning that Iran’s response would be “painful” and saying it was prepared to confront any foreign forces intervening in the Strait of Hormuz.
The IRGC said the US attacks would lead to the “tightening of the closure” of the strait. Iranian media also quoted Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf as saying that preventing Iran from exporting oil from the Gulf would, in his words, mean preventing others from exporting oil as well.
The threat carries particular significance given global dependence on the Strait of Hormuz. Before the war, roughly one in every five barrels of oil worldwide passed through the waterway, making any prolonged disruption to shipping a direct factor in higher energy prices and increased pressure on the global economy.
Iran Claims to Have Downed US Drones
Amid the aerial escalation, the IRGC announced that a modern air defense system had shot down a US drone in its first operational deployment.
Tasnim said the drone was an MQ-9 and was downed in Markazi province. The IRGC had previously claimed to have shot down another drone of the same type over the Strait of Hormuz.
The IRGC also claimed to have targeted a US infantry camp in the region and killed several personnel, but the claims have not been independently verified.
Conflict Puts Pressure on Energy Markets
The military escalation comes as Iran faces growing economic pressure from US sanctions, while Washington moves to impose additional measures on entities conducting commercial transactions with Tehran.
The renewed fighting disrupted global markets, with oil prices rising by more than $4 a barrel, while stock markets fell and pressure on US Treasury markets increased amid concerns that higher energy costs and inflation could persist.
The US-Iran confrontation has therefore entered a more dangerous phase after weeks of relative calm, with renewed US strikes on targets inside Iran and Iranian retaliation against US bases and interests across the region. Escalating threats concerning the Strait of Hormuz could further broaden the conflict and deepen its military and economic impact across the region and beyond.
Source: AFP
